"Rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens": Does democracy count?

This chapter denounces the hypercommercialization of the information network and its control by private interests using the marketplace metaphor. It argues that government policy should adopt a justice-based metaphor instead, and focus on quantifying the amount of democratic opportunity created, after reaching consensus on the definition of democratic participation. The chapter begins with an overview of broadband Internet within the context of democracy and its importance in the promotion of social and democratic goals before offering an alternative theoretical framework for evaluating the “success” of broadband policy and creating a measure for “democratic capacity.” It then introduces a vision of broadband as an essential facilitator of democratic discourse and considers some recent attempts made by governments to rethink “development” in non-economic terms. Finally, it discusses the non-economic goals set by the National Broadband Plan in comparison with its quantifiable goals.