In the 1990s, Denmark took a major step into the information society where creation, processing and transmission of knowledge have become the most important source of productivity and power. Despite the global technological progress and economic, political, cultural etc. globalization, there is still room for national and local policies in information and communications technology and for local practices and experiments. This “micro policy” can offer new knowledge and new solutions, which may be important and necessary for the direction we want the development to take.

The analysis first focuses on the global, international and national development as well as on regulation of the new information and communication media. It then moves on to the new resources and opportunities and how they are exploited by different political actors like political parties, MPs, bureaucrats, local politicians and civic groups.

Globalization, which is in large part driven by the progress in information technology, causes significant changes in power, politics and democracy. These changes are double-edged. Power is disseminated through the formation of new political decision making arenas, but at the same time it is concentrated in the form of new political authorities like Microsoft, who attempts to control certain areas of the global information society. Politics becomes global in order to be effective in relation to the new political authorities and problem areas, but it also appears that it becomes more and more necessary for it to find its justification in personal ethnics. Many of the new political authorities are not democratic, but the information and communications technology helps form new public spheres and communities that can affect and change them.