"From this short survey of some key thinkers, can we conclude that there is a causal link between digital media and good governance? The sum of the arguments and cases presented here do not point to a causal link, but they certainly show that digital technology is shaping social movements and political processes as never before. What is clear is that digital technology is a tool, and that, as such, it can be an important contributor to “bad” governance as well as “good.” It can help topple dictators, but it can also help authoritarian regimes oppress their citizens; it can empower people, and it can anesthetize and manipulate them [...] Of course, the question about a causal link between digital media and good governance is purposefully simple– even crude–in order to make a good title. The job of academics is to go beyond the simple journalistic headlines that have hailed “Twitter revolutions” on the one hand, or have dismissed “slacktivists” on the other. All the scholars profiled here clearly show that those who assume a simple relationship between digital technologies and political change are making serious mistakes. As ever, context is all." (Abstract)

"The report is organized into two main parts. The first presents the overarching theory and debate from two opposing standpoints that can be crudely characterized as the techno-optimists versus the techno-pessimists. On the one side are Clay Shirky and Larry Diamond who take an optimistic perspective about the potential for digital technology to drive positive political change, and, as a counterpoint, are two “Internet skeptics,” Evgeny Morozov and Christian Christensen. The second part looks at some empirical research and country case tudies by a number of academics from different disciplines; law, political science, and anthropology. Ron Deibert examines the relationship between free expression and the Internet by researching cyber-espionage, surveillance, and control. Rebecca MacKinnon has looked in particular at blogging in China and asks whether the Internet is a force for democratization there. A team from Harvard comprising Archon Fung, Hollie Russon-Gilman, and Jennifer Shkabatur have done impact case studies of new technologies in middle income and developing countries and have some interesting insights for would-be funders and supporters of technological interventions who are attempting to increase accountability. Finally Linda Herrera has analyzed the role of social media among the “wired generation” of youth, in the recent uprisings in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Egypt." (Introduction)