THE INTERNATIONAL TELEPHONE NETWORK AND DEMOCRATIZATION

This study examines the relationship between the international telepho ne network and the process of democratization. It attempts to answer t wo research questions: (1) Who are the core, semiperiphery, periphery countries in the international telephone network? (2) What is the rela tionship between a country's network position and its level of democra cy? The results indicate that various network indicators (e.g., system density, centrality, connectedness, and integrativeness) are consiste nt over time. Network analysis identified one large group in the globa l telephone network. Further, the results are consistent with the main argument of world system theory that a country's position in the netw ork affects its political development and its patterns of interaction. Telecommunication also plays a paradoxical role in the development of democracy. On the one hand, it facilitates interaction among differen t segments of people and enables popular participation. On the other h and, it generates electronic colonialism and exacerbates the gap betwe en the core and the periphery countries.