332 Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos Núm. 1/ 2013 Manuel R. Torres Soriano Senior Lecturer of the Department of Political Science and of Administration of the Pablo de Olavide University of Seville. mrtorsor@upo.es INTERNET AS A DRIVER OF POLITICAL CHANGE: CYBER-PESSIMISTS AND CYBER-OPTIMISTS There are two schools of thought about the impact of Internet on the processes of political change. On the one hand, individuals who believe that this technology has some features that promote the spread of democracy around the world, and those who believe that this instrument consolidates authoritarianism and political repression. The purpose of this article is a descriptive analysis of the main arguments used for both to justify their positions. This work defends the argument that both views attribute a deterministic role to Internet which does not correspond to its neutral nature. In contrast, the effects of Internet on political change depend on the context and the ability of actors who use it Internet, new information technologies, democracy, authoritarianism, political change.
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