The journal essay was written for class on "power and change in technological society". At present, I do not hold the same views and will not reach the same conclusions. However, I present the essay in its original form without editing for opinion or structure.

Change

The question of whether politics determines technical change or technology determines political change is explored in "political change and technical change" by V.Street. The question is relevant to individuals, because an individual is a factor in inducing political change through electoral process or protest. An individual needs to know whether she/he can maximize the benefit from technology through political change.

V.Street describes technical change as consisting of two stages: "innovation and invention", and "implementation and regulation". The first stage refers to the creation of technology, the second stage refers to how a certain creation actually manifests in society. He identifies the theories of "autonomous technology" and "technological determinism", which hold technology to be the driving factor in determining political change. Autonomous technology theory holds "politics are dictated by a technological rationality". Technological determinism claims the same with less emphasis on internal rationality, but claiming that technology sets the "conditions for the operation of the political system." V.Street then considers the polar theory of politics determining technical change. At the end he admits there is no single approach to explain the relation, but considers various hypotheses, which in general forge flux relations between technology and politics.

V.Street shows that the relation is not one way, and that political change can induce technical change. If certain technology is harmful or less useful than another, then an individual or public should consider political action to call for technical change. One should be also warned of how "internal dynamics of technical innovations and development" may manifest in evil forms. Thus, engineering activities in military, university, and industry must be carefully monitored and regulated.