The Nature of Power is Changing

“The world, under the vortex of forces unleashed by the Internet, instantaneous global communication, smartphones and social media, is undergoing the kind of change that occurs only rarely in history. The most obvious comparison is with the invention of printing in the mid-fifteenth century. Political systems can collapse under such disruptive innovation. The very nature of power is changing, becoming less centralised and more diffused. The democratic institutions we have inherited from the past were made for a different age and a slower pace of change. Technology moves fast, while the democratic process is slow. The problems we face today, economic, social and environmental, are global, while our most effective political structures are at best national. It would be astonishing if our democratic structures were not strained under such circumstances.”

Morality, Chapter 8, p. 120