In the ancient Spartan democracy, the all the citizens were directly involved in major decision-making processes. As populations and perhaps egos grew, it became impossible to involve everyone in the day to day running of state affairs. A class of fulltime governors who made decisions for the rest of the society evolved. Thus representative democracy was born. This brought about a class of people who by the virtue of their leadership positions acquired (and controlled) more information than the rest of the society.
As societies become more complex, governance processes generate more and more information. Those higher in the governance hierarchy are entrusted with higher levels of information and are privy to key decision making processes. Often, some of this access translates to personal privileges like business opportunities, personal influence and political power. This state of affairs has created a struggle between the rulers and the ruled over access to information. The rulers can only maintain their privileges by limiting access while the ruled have to protect their common good by accessing more, quality and timely information.
Tagged under Governance