Saving Democracy: Populism, Deception, and E-Participation

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Author(s): Robert Niewiadomski (Hunter College – The City University of New York, USA)and Dennis Anderson (St. Francis College, USA)
Copyright: 2018
Pages: 22
Source title: Optimizing E-Participation Initiatives Through Social Media
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Laura Alcaide-Muñoz (University of Granada, Spain)and Francisco José Alcaraz-Quiles (University of Granada, Spain)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-5326-7.ch003

Keywords: Digital Communications / Information Science Reference / Media & Communications

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Abstract

The recent rise of populism around the world, often accompanied by nationalism and isolationism, is a trend that presents a serious threat not only to liberal democracies but also to global peace and security. Populist forces have already shown their influence through the British referendum on membership withdrawal from the European Union and the election of Donald J. Trump as the U.S. President in 2016. These two events alone had ripple effects and were felt by the international community. The causes of populism are being currently revisited. It appears that socioeconomic and cultural aspects are key contributors. Even though the persistent existence of populist elements within societies comes from the very core of the democratic experiment, the current trend in social media technologies allowed demagogues to utilize viral deception on a considerable scale. The authors argue that social media technologies could be employed through e-participation to inhibit populism by bolstering civic empowerment, transparency, progressive inclusiveness, fact-based analysis, and informed decision making.

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Saving Democracy: Populism, Deception, and E-Participation

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