• Informatization Policy
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.61-79
• /
• 2010

This study focuses on the emergence of collective intelligence and its impact on the democracy in the information era. Scholars have posed very different-optimistic and pessimistic-views on the possibility of collective knowledge produced by the public. Focusing on the cases of a free online encylopedia known as wikipedia and 2008 Candlelight Demonstration against the imports of US beef in Korea, this paper analyzes the mechanism of collective intelligence and its political implications on the democracy. Specifically, this article approaches changes in new knowledge paradigm with two different variables: the degree of connectivity and the quality of deliberation. Applying two different sets of variables helps us to distinguish the possibilities of collective intelligence and anti-intelligence, which would suggest social and political implications for the democracy in a country. This study finds a critical difference in terms of the quality of deliberation, measured by the indicators such as diversity, independence, and integration mechanism for online deliberation.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.27-56
• /
• 2008

The controversy over the mad cow disease in Korea can be understood as a demonstration of complex and skeptical public sentiments toward the government that were all mixed with expectations, demands, hope and mistrust. The governments decision to resume the import of American beef turned such expectations into mistrust and public hope into nationwide resistance expressed in the form of candlelight vigils. This phenomenon can not be simply explained as a fear of risks. Concerns over mad cow disease were a trigger but they were riot sufficient cause to explain the nationwide controversy involving all the Koreans. It was mad cow disease that triggered a sharp confrontation between the government trying to stick to its decision to resume the import of American beef and the opponents who were not convinced by the government. In fact, this is not simply an issue of a disease. It is rather a complex issue of the acceptance of risks, the consistency of the government policy, trust in the government, and the public consensus on the government policy. In this context, this study analyzes the controversy over the mad cow disease from the perspectives of risk management, public policy-making, and public trust and social consensus-building.