(2005-06-25) Ronfeldt NGOs Networks

David Ronfeldt (from 2002) on "NGOs, Network-s, and Future Social Evolution" - This framework holds that people have developed four major forms for organizing their societies: first tribes (Tribalism), then hierarchical (Command And Control) institutions, then Markets, and now Networks... Today, it is often said that "government" or "the market" is the solution. In time, it may well be said that "the network" is the solution. (Network Economy, Network Enlightenment)

David Brin analyzes it. Networks utilize many of the same methodologies as markets, only far more rapidly and without the need, seen in every Accountability Arena, for formal demarcations of authority. Networked relations are also (I have tried to show) still extremely primitive. They currently lack sophisticated "arena" methodologies for maximizing good outcomes and minimizing bad. Theoreticians speculate that unleashing vast numbers of well-informed and network-skilled participants will result in smart-mob benefits derived from reciprocal accountability (good network actors will catch and cancel bad actors) but this hope may only be achieved if it is fostered by institutional developments.