Martin Gurri
The digital information explosion has broken the authority monopoly of top-down industrial institutions, empowering networked publics to dismantle political legitimacy without offering constructive alternatives.
Industrial-age institutions were structured around political Taylorism and top-down hierarchies that required a strict monopoly on information to maintain public trust.
The digital information tsunami destroyed elite control over societal narratives, instantly exposing institutional failures that were previously concealed from the public.
Modern protest movements assemble spontaneously through social networks, enabling rapid global coordination without traditional organizational infrastructure or charismatic leaders.