Culture, Technology, and Politics - Assignment Essay

Culture, Technology, and Politics - Assignment - Essay Example Politics on the other hand, influence culture in different ways ranging from education to religion to ways of life. Most governments prefer a clear separation of church and state. United States has free religion where everybody can be a member of any denomination. France goes a step further in separating state and religion by banning obvious religious symbols. This is different in England where there is a state church (Sclove, 1995). Historically, technology has been a political tool. It has politically favored some politicians as well as worked against some. This is more so in the recent past where technology has advanced to greater heights. The advent of i tunes, podcasting websites, MySpace and YouTube has shifted the political playing field. Biggest political hurdles such as fundraising and reaching out to voters have been overcome through technology. This was more evident in the 2008 US presidential elections. Candidates used social networks to fundraise as well as educate voters on their agendas in an attempt to woo for votes. In a different example, Howard Dean initially rose to prominence by using Internet donations to fund his campaigns. The same technology later led to his downfall through excessive internet play of the â€Å"Dean Scream† video. On the other hand, technology might cause political downfall. For instance, Google’s algorithms are also used to spread negative information abou t somebody else. During elections, video recordings and old political speeches have used to show differing political stands of a politician. This highlights the downside of technology in politics (Sclove, 1995). Politicians and governments use technology to further their cause. Governments use technological innovations as a regulatory tool. For example, United States government set up regulatory agencies like Federal Communication Commission and