Technology as considered from within the perspective of the health and economic development policies of developing countries is prescient insofar as, in the case of health policy, it allows for a coherent and effective policy to be promoted in accordance with available technology, and in the case of economic policy, such technology allows for the development of such countries to become more globalized through increased communication and foreign investment.

In the case of health policy, advancements in health technology, such as improvements in the quality of pharmaceutical drugs, permits policy to be arranged around the acquisition and dissemination of such drugs within a developing country. In countries in which particular diseases are epidemic, such as AIDS in Africa, the new medical technology allows for both the control and treatment of these illnesses. In this regard, the availability of such drugs becomes a crucial policy decision for the governments, insofar as the acquisition of these drugs essentially is equivalent to a decision for an investment in the populace of the native country, that is, in its own human capital. As Szirmai (2005, p. 5) notes, “the rise of life expectancy is explained to a great extent by improvements in health technology.” Health technology essentially creates health and economic policy, through the emphasis on the endemic resources of the developing country; accordingly, such technology helps engender the conditions of possibility for an underdeveloped country to become a developing country.

Technology in terms of economic policy can be primarily defined in terms of communication. The globalization of capital is facilitated by technological apparatuses such as the Internet, thus allowing for instantaneous communication. Such instantaneous communication permits a radicalization of possibilities for foreign investment, while at the same time granting the developing country a voice within the globalized system. For Nishantha et al., (2005, p. 245) this importance “opens a vast stream of opportunities for developing countries in acquiring international assistance.” Essentially, the very nature of such technology encourages economic policies that are fundamentally open to foreign investment: this facilitates the development process, insofar as countries are no longer isolated. Moreover, from the perspective of health and communication, the Internet allows for increases in “medical technology transferring.” (Nishantha et al., 2005, p. 245)

b. What possible impact do you think these technologies will have on the ways in which citizen participation may change a political system?

The investment in medical technologies can be viewed as an indicator that governments confer a value to the members of the populace: there is a commitment to the individuals that comprise the state. According to the 2000 report of the Inter-American Development Bank, “further advances in medical technology will push countries further along…towards improvements in the overall quality and length of life.” (p. 87) This shift accordingly demonstrates that one of the primary concerns of the system is the populace. In this continuity between the populace and the government, chances of democratic participation are greater, insofar as the political system is essentially inclusive: those with illnesses are not excluded. Through investment in medicine, citizen participation is thus encouraged according to the government’s positive intervention in the everyday lives of the citizen: to the extent that more citizens are included in the system, more voices contribute to the process, and thus change is engendered.

Communication technologies essentially create a decentralization of power within a given political system. The heterogeneity of such technologies, from the Internet to the mobile phone, provides citizenry with diverse forms of establishing dialogue and contacts. Accordingly, the political system itself is no longer the primary means by which organization is established: organization can be generated amongst the general populace through the implementation of such technologies. As evidenced by the recent North African revolutions, technology forces political systems to adapt in accordance with the growing technology capabilities of the populace, as “existing social institutions are faced with the dual challenge of directing and accommodating social change driven by technology.” (Guile, 1985, p. v) Essentially, such governments are forced through the increasing technologization of society to address the concerns of the populace.

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