Channels, Fall 2018

Channels • 2018 • Volume 3 • Number 1 Page 139 longer have any control over surveillance practices when bureaucratic allocation essentially creates an autonomous and indirect surveillance state (McQuade, 2016). Such an entity, existing in an autonomous fashion, by nature holds an immense level of power over the population about which it registers a high level of legibility. This condition of unchecked influence threatens the checks and balances parameters built into the national government, and by this fact embodies an entity that possesses the ability to alter the power structure at the national level to the point that the system cannot accommodate the imbalance. The resultant shift in governability and power dispensation could easily prove fatal to the existent federal state. Conclusion In the case of the PRC, some scholars believe that excessive data harvesting, i.e. ‘Big Data’ practices, will threaten the stability of the ruling regime in relation to the idea that “When data is highly concentrated in the hands of a few powerful individuals or agencies, it may be sufficiently destructive to damage the entire authoritarian regime if used in the interests of competing actors in power struggles” (Zeng, 2016, pg. 1444). Similarly to the American governmental system, the CPC government faces a serious internal threat given the implications of an expanding surveillance state. In an authoritarian governmental system that allows little flexibility in regard to power struggles and exercises few systemic checks and balances within the governmental structure, the danger to the system from information-based power and influence manifests itself not in institutional form, as with the USA, but in the form of individual actors. Too much power and influence exercised by individual actors that as a part of their agenda target other actors within the governing institutions may lead directly to debilitating instability and render existing governmental structures effete. It would certainly be ironic to see the two most powerful states in the global system weaken and topple themselves by the very means through which they sought to assure their own domestic security. Further Avenues of Research In the process of examining the questions addressed in this study, it becomes readily apparent that there is a great deal of parallel and associated material that merits study as well. The most obvious avenue for further or expanded research presents itself in the topic of government surveillance practices and methodology. As a means of limiting the scope of this study to a more sizeable portion, government surveillance was examined only in relation to CCTV networks. As stated in the introduction, CCTV surveillance is only a solitary facet of the greater prism of surveillance strategies, and by nature necessitates parallel and associated means of surveillance for effective security practices. This includes (and is not limited to) monitoring social media and interactive internet services, wiretapping, archival investigation, and civic data collection in general. The operationalization of these surveillance methods also necessitates a subset population of legality and policy-compatibility experts, which in terms of further research present not only an intriguing academic field but also an important echelon within the greater governmental system itself, providing the opportunity for niche-like expertise and crucial public service. Further research opportunities also become apparent in the realm of technology improvement. As technology becomes more sophisticated, the need arises for a greater understanding of the design, production, and capabilities of the various software and hardware aspects of surveillance technology. Higher quality imaging, facial recognition and data-analysis software, and patterns of installation all demonstrate the promise of extended avenues of examination. In closing, it seems logical that further research in relation to this subject will proliferate in tandem with national government