The Virtual Utopia: A Critique Of Cyberoptimism Based On The Rational Choice Theory

The irruption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has led to optimistic predictions concerning the potential of this technology for transforming several areas of social life. In politics, the optimistic thesis envisions a radical transformation of the institutions of representative democracy through the realization of two ideals that, as the argument goes, ICTs will make possible: full-fledged citizen participation in public affairs and the emergence of new forms of direct democracy. This article examines the arguments of the optimistic or the "populist" thesis (as it is known) in order to asses their validity from a rational choice perspective. After careful examination of these arguments, the article concludes that the populist thesis does not lead to realistic or plausible predictions because it is based on wrong and unrealistic assumptions about how people behave.