Berkman Fellow Michael Best, Assistant Professor with the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech, has recently focused his work on the question, “Will the Internet ultimately become a tool of political liberation and strong democracy or the ultimate weapon of control for authoritarian regimes?” Michael presented research he’s done that examines a correlation between political liberties and Internet diffusion through a variety of statistical models. One of Michael’s models suggests that one point of political rights, on a seven-point scale, is gained for every 3.3 new Internet users per 1,000 population.
Last updated February 26, 2008