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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2009
The widespread adoption of mainframe computers by all levels of governments is a phenomenon that has been seriously neglected by political scientists. While a few isolated, popular issues have been noticed, little academic attention has been paid within the discipline to the effects of computers on our political institutions and processes. The development of a cadre of data processing specialists is introducing a new and powerful set of values into public decision-making. Interest groups and political parties are scrambling to adjust their mobilization strategies. The growing employment of arcane and often questionable decision models diminishes even further the public's already limited ability to monitor their governments' activities. As a discipline, political science has much to do if it is to meet these challenges to its understanding of governments and how they work.
L'utilisation de plus en plus répandue des ordinateurs à tous les niveaux de gouvernement est un phénomène fortement négligé par les politicologues. Bien qu'il s'agisse d'un sujet très discuté, on retrouve peu de travaux académiques portant sur les effets des ordinateurs sur le processus et les institutions politiques. La formation d'un groupe de spécialistes du traitement des données entraîne I'adoption de nouvelles valeurs pour la prise de décisions. Les parties politiques et les groupes d'intérêts essaient d'ajuster leurs stratégies de mobilisation. Le recours de plus en plus fréquent à des modèles de décision discutables et indéchiffrables réduit encore plus la capacité du public à intervenir pour contrêler les activités gouvemementales. Comme discipline, la science politique doit viser à incorporer ces nouveaux développements à sa compréhension des gouvernements et à leur fonctionnement.
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