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The Fifth Estate

The Fifth Estate

Overview

The Fifth Estate is a research project designed to examine critically the Internet’s role in enabling new forms of democratic social accountability and voice, comparable to the Fourth Estate enabled by the press in an earlier era. This work developed out of Bill Dutton’s 2007 Oxford Inaugural Lecture Through the Network (of Networks) – the Fifth Estate (webcast). It is anchored in themes emerging from, and studied through, the Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS) and related empirical research. The concept has been further developed in a series of publications and forms the basis for a set of ongoing spin-off research projects.

The Concept of a Fifth Estate

The rise of the press, radio, television and other mass media enabled the development of an independent institution: the ‘Fourth Estate’, central to pluralist democratic processes. The growing use of the Internet and related digital technologies is creating a space for networking individuals to provide a new source of accountability in government, politics and many other sectors of networked societies. This project is centered on the emergence and sustainability of this ‘Fifth Estate’ and why it could challenge the influence of other more established bases of institutional authority.

The project addresses ways the rise of this new social and political phenomenon could support the vitality of liberal democratic societies, refine empirical research on its role, and examine threats posed by ‘enemies’ of such a Fifth Estate, often from other estates of the Internet realm.

Activities and Targets

The idea of a Fifth Estate was developed to sensitize people to a wide array of concrete trends and developments around the societal implications of the Internet. In the first years, this concept has been further developed and presented in a variety of forums. In the coming years, this work will be extended as a means to provide a wide ranging synthesis of research on democracy, social accountability, and the Internet. A book is also planned that will ground the notion more comprehensively in a range of empirical settings and case studies, and bring it to a wider audience. Current work on and about the Fifth Estate can be found here, along with blogs and related links to research and discussion of this work.

Work on the Fifth Estate is linked with a number of related research projects. The project benefits from support of the Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS) and World Internet Project (WIP), which undertake empirical research that underpins the concept of a Fifth Estate. Bill Dutton is associated with a research project at the Danish Technology University (DTU), entitled The Governance and Design of Collaborative User-driven Innovation Platforms, which is funded by the Danish Council for Strategic Research. This project builds on Dutton’s work on collaborative network organizations, which is one central aspect of the development of the Fifth Estate. Bill Dutton is also collaborating on a project at the University of Jyväskylä, entitled ‘The Fifth Estate – Case Finland’ with Professor Epp Lauk, Turo Uskali, and Niina Niskala, where colleagues are developing case studies of the Fifth Estate in Finland.

Support

This project has been sponsored since 2009 by gifts from June Klein, Chief Executive Officer of Technology & Marketing Ventures, Inc., a US firm that created and implemented Electronic Board Room TMVI(R) Solutions. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) has provided matching funds for these gifts.

Additional support would be greatly welcomed through donations or sponsorship of specific projects in order to support student research assistance, field research, and publication of our research findings.

Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce)Technology & Marketing Ventures, Inc.

Key Information

Funders:
  • Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce)
  • Technology & Marketing Ventures, Inc.
  • Project dates:
    October 2007 - August 2014

    All Publications

    Articles

    Chapters

    • Dutton, W. H. (2012) The Fifth Estate: A New Governance Challenge. In Levi-Faur, D. (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 584-98.
    • Dutton, W. H. (2012) The Internet and Democratic Accountability: The Rise of the Fifth Estate. In F.L.F.Lee, L.Leung, J.L.Qui, and D.S.C.Chu (eds) Frontiers in New Media Research. Abingdon: Informa, Taylor and Francis / Routledge.
    • Dutton, W. H. (2013) The Internet and Democratic Accountability: The Rise of the Fifth Estate. In Lee, F.L.F., Leung, L., Qui, J. L., and Chu, D.S.C. (eds) Frontiers in New Media Research. Abingdon: Informa, Taylor and Francis/Routledge, pp. 39-55.
    • Dutton, W.H. (forthcoming) The Fifth Estate: Democratic Social Accountability through the Emerging Network of Networks. In: P.G.Nixon et al. (eds) Challenges to E-Government in Europe.
    • Huan, S., Dutton, W. H., and Shen, W. (2013) The Semi-Sovereign Netizen: The Fifth Estate in China. In Nixon, P., Rawal, R., and Mercea, D. (eds) Politics and the Internet in Comparative Context. London: Routledge.

    Presentations

    • Dutton, W. (2007) Through the Network (of Networks) – the Fifth Estate. Presented at ‘Through the Network (of Networks) – the Fifth Estate’, University of Oxford, 15 October 2007.
    • Dutton, W.H. (2007) The Rise of Electronic Democracy and the Fifth Estate: Lessons Learned from Thirty Years of Research. Presented at ‘Electronic Democracy’, a European Science Foundation and Linköping University Conference, Vadstena, Sweden, 21-25 November 2007.
    • Dutton, W.H. (2007) The Rise of Electronic Democracy and the Fifth Estate: Lessons Learned from Thirty Years of Research. ‘Electronic Democracy’, a European Science Foundation and Linköping University Conference, 21-25 November 2007. Vadstena Klosterhotell, Vadstena, Sweden.
    • Dutton, W.H. (2008) e-Government and the Rise of the Fifth Estate. ‘E-Leaders Conference 2008’ on the Future of e-Government – Agenda 2020, 6-7 March 2008. Steigenberger Kuhaus Hotel, The Hague, Netherlands.
    • Dutton, W.H. (2008) e-Government and the Rise of the Fifth Estate. Presented at ‘E-Leaders Conference 2008 on the Future of e-Government’, The Hague, Netherlands, 6-7 March 2008.
    • Dutton, W.H. (2008) The Fifth Estate: Democratic Social Accountability Through the Emerging Network of Networks. Internet Research 9.0: Rethinking Community, Rethinking Place, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark, 18 October 2008.
    • Dutton, W.H. (2009) The Rise of the Internet and the Fifth Estate. Internet Research Conference, 4 November 2009. World Internet Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
    • Dutton, W.H. (2010) The Fifth Estate of the Internet Realm. Networking Democracy: New Media Innovations in Participatory Politics, 25 June 2010. Universitatea, Babes-Bolyai, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
    • Dutton, W.H. (2011) The Fifth Estate of the Internet Realm. The Centre for Research in the Arts, 24 February 2011. Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), Cambridge Digital Humanities Network, Cambridge University.
    • Dutton, W.H. (2011) The Future of the Internet and the Fifth Estate. Alpbach Technology Forum, European Forum Alpbach, 25-27 August 2011. Alpbach, Austria.

    Reports

    • Dutton, W.H. (2010) The Fifth Estate Emerging Through the Internet and Freedom of Expression. In A News Future and the Future of the Journalism Profession: An IPI Report, pp. 22-25. International Press Institute and the Poytner Institute.

    Working papers

    • Huan, S., Dutton, W.H., and Shen, W. (2012) The Semi-Sovereign Netizen: The Politics of the Fifth Estate in China. OII Working Paper for the 5th Estate Project. Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.

    Videos

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