Publication Details

Abstract

The article presents a paradox and a dilemma associated with democracy. The paradox regards the issue of rule in an informationally transparent democracy: whereas transparency may lead to the exploitation of democracy by hostile agents, restricting transparency may lead to the transformation of a democracy into an autocracy. Within the terms of this paradox, I argue that achieving transparency in a democracy may not be possible by means of ‘informational disarmament’. The dilemma is that a democracy may likely lose the information war if it presents information objectively via its media. Not only do transparent democracies and informational disarmament appear to be impossible, but the stability of democracies which adhere to ethical standards of presenting information objectively is also at risk in the information war.