Information and Communication Technologies as Drivers of Social Unrest

Abstract

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are reducing the transaction costs of information gathering and distribution. This can be, and has shown to be, a powerful tool for citizens that need to organize to protest against what they may perceive as social injustice. In fact this century has seen much more tangibly the manner in which these technologies facilitated, to a certain extent, The Arab Spring and the Occupy movements. Using ICT we expect to understand the relationships of political stability with the following variables: a) poverty: b) education and corruption c) and freedom of expression.

Keywords: political stability, ICT appropriation, citizenship

JEL Classification: Z1