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The Digital Republic
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The Digital Republic

On Freedom and Democracy in the 21st Century

Jamie Susskind
Pegasus Books, 2022
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9

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Huge technology companies are amassing unprecedented levels of wealth and power while also distorting democracy, Jamie Susskind writes in this detailed study. A British barrister, tech expert and skilled author, Susskind argues for a massive effort to rein in big tech, an initiative that would require new laws, robust regulation and greater enforcement. He acknowledges that none of this will be easy, because Silicon Valley will resist any and all checks on its power. And even if a “digital republicanism” emerges, the public sector will still have to sprint to catch up with the ever-accelerating pace of innovation.

Summary

Technology represents a new form of “unaccountable power.”

Republicanism is a form of governance premised on the resistance to unaccountable power. During the Roman Republic, people viewed a domineering state as the main threat to individual liberty. In America’s early days, the British Parliament imposed a tax on the colonies while also telling the colonists that they had no power to resist. That sort of unchecked dominion aroused the “indignant spirit” of the Americans and ultimately sparked the birth of a new nation. One of America’s founders, James Madison, cautioned not only against overreach by a country’s rulers but also against the unrestrained concentration of power in the hands of a segment of society.

In the modern age, the ethos of market individualism has replaced that of republicanism: A mighty power is tolerable as long as that entity doesn’t interfere in the decisions of individuals. Republicanism chafes at unchecked power, even if those with that power wield it in a low-key way. Market individualism, meanwhile, espouses a selfish mode of existence, with democracy...

About the Author

Jamie Susskind is the author of the best-selling Future Politics. Recognized as a leading authority on the digital age, he lives and practices law in London.

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