Manipulation in Politics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Noggle
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Political Actor ◽  
Physical Force ◽  
The Social ◽  
State Of Mind ◽  
The Media ◽  
Information Sciences

Manipulation is a means by which a person is gotten to do something that the person was not initially inclined to do. As such, it is a form of power. Distinguishing it from other forms of power, such as persuasion, coercion, and physical force, is both important and difficult. It is important because it often matters which form of power a political actor uses, and manipulation is commonly thought to be a form of power whose exercise is undesirable. It is difficult because the line between manipulation and persuasion is often obscure, and because the term manipulation can be applied to tactics that influence the target’s state of mind, and tactics that change the target’s situation. Political theorists and philosophers have offered several accounts of manipulation: Some see it as deceptive influence, some see it as covert influence, some see it as influence with covert intent, some see it as offering bad reasons, and some see it as changing the external situation. While each of these approaches gets some things right about manipulation, each faces important challenges as well. One reason why manipulation seems undesirable is that it appears to undermine autonomy. This fact helps explain why concerns about manipulation arise in discussions of “nudges” that are meant to improve people’s decision making without coercion. Even if nudges benefit their targets, they may be undesirable on balance if they involve autonomy-undermining manipulation. Manipulation is a useful tool for autocrats, but it poses serious problems for democracies. This is because it appears to undermine the consent on which democratic legitimacy depends. Some political theorists argue that the problems posed by manipulation can be best addressed through deliberative democracy. Others dispute this suggestion. At the level of practice, there is reason to worry that late-20th- and 21st-century developments in psychology and the social and information sciences, as well as changes to the media landscape, threaten to make manipulation more prevalent and effective.

scholarly journals A RESPONSABILIDADE SOCIAL DA EMPRESA E A CIDADANIA NA PARTICIPAÇÃO DEMOCRÁTICA

Percurso ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (29) ◽  
pp. 261
Author(s):  
Leandro Souza ROSA
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Ethical Responsibility ◽  
Democratic Participation ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
The Social

RESUMOEste artigo analisa a responsabilidade social e ética da empresa, que não se limita a gerar empregos e pagar impostos para criar o lucro, mas também participa ativamente da sociedade, já que o Estado possui uma demanda maior do que consegue suprir e as empresas podem desempenhar o papel de agentes de grandes transformações na vida dos indivíduos. Para tanto, examinou-se a concepção da função social no Estado Democrático de Direito, bem como o instituto da responsabilidade social, cujas diretrizes baseiam-se na cidadania por meio da participação democrática, de modo que o modelo que melhor se enquadraria nesse sistema é o da democracia deliberativa, conforme se demonstra. Assim, por meio de exemplos concretos, buscou-se demonstrar que a empresa pode desenvolver a participação democrática para se envolver no processo decisório e fomentar a evolução social. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Empresa; Responsabilidade Social; Cidadania; Democracia. ABSTRACTThis article analyzes the social and ethical responsibility of the company, which not only generates jobs and pay taxes to create profit, but also actively participates in society, since the State has a greater demand than it can supply and companies can play the role of agents of great transformations in the life of individuals. For this, the conception of the social function in the Democratic State of Law, as well as the institute of social responsibility, whose guidelines are based on citizenship through democratic participation, was examined, so that the model that would fit best in this system is that of deliberative democracy, as demonstrated. Thus, through concrete examples, it was tried to demonstrate that the company can develop the democratic participation to be involved in the decision-making process and to foment the social evolution. KEYWORDS: Company; Social Responsibility; Citizenship; Democracy.

Can Democracy be Deliberative & Participatory? The Democratic Case for Political Uses of Mini-Publics

Daedalus ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 146 (3) ◽  
pp. 85-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Lafont
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Political System ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Decision ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Negative Conclusion ◽  
Political Decision Making

This essay focuses on recent proposals to confer decisional status upon deliberative mini-publics such as citizens' juries, Deliberative Polls, and citizens' assemblies. Against such proposals, I argue that inserting deliberative mini-publics into political decision-making processes would diminish the democratic legitimacy of the political system as a whole. This negative conclusion invites a question: which political uses of mini-publics would yield genuinely democratic improvements? Drawing from a participatory conception of deliberative democracy, I propose several uses of mini-publics that could enhance the democratic legitimacy of political decision-making in current societies.

scholarly journals Looking at the World Bank’s safeguard reform through the lens of deliberative democracy

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Houghton
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
International Law ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Consultation Process ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Law Making

AbstractThe sheer amount of non-state participation in the creation of the World Bank Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) is surely noteworthy. The aim of the Bank’s consultation was to get ‘global’ input and feedback, and with over 8,000 stakeholders from over 63 countries taking part, it is laudable. The extent of the participation challenges the positivist approach to international law-making, which views only states as having the power to make law and raises questions about how to legitimize such international soft-law making. Legitimacy is entangled with democracy, as scholars debate whether democracy is the required benchmark for decision-making processes at international organizations. This article uses deliberative democracy to analyse the ESF consultation process. Whilst, democratic legitimacy has been interpreted to mean inclusivity and participation, deliberative democracy raises a series of hard questions about equality and power that scholarship on global governance needs to grapple with. Although this participatory process at the World Bank challenges traditional narratives in international law, analysing it through a lens of deliberative democracy exposes the work that still needs to be done to discuss democracy in international decision-making.

Possible application of deliberative democracy in parliament

Human Affairs ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Branislav Dolný
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Democratic Theory ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Institutional Framework ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
Dominant Paradigm ◽  
Discourse Quality ◽  
The Way

AbstractDeliberative democracy, as a dominant paradigm in contemporary democratic theory, offers a new, attractive conception of democratic legitimacy, which represents an alternative to a democracy that functions through the mechanism of political competition. A major problem with deliberation is the issue of its institutionalisation, as the theories of deliberative democracy have not produced a more specific institutional framework or form in which it could be used in political practice. Parliaments appear to be particularly suitable places for its potential implementation. Moreover, deliberative democracy could contribute to a change in discourse quality and the way decision-making is conducted in parliaments, which is often considered problematic. Due to its incompatibility with competitive democracy, the opportunities for introducing deliberative democracy into parliaments are very limited. The study also outlines three ways of reconciling deliberative democracy and parliaments.

Games as a Cultural Institute of the “Digital” Space

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 176-185
Author(s):  
Sidorov Viktor A. ◽  
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Social Significance ◽  
Digital Space ◽  
Information Interaction ◽  
The Social ◽  
Unlimited Time ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media

The article examines the problem of modernization and the formation of new cultural institutions of the 21st century on the materials of the formation of media games on the Internet. The actual practice of expanding the game fields deserves attention from researchers for various reasons. First, the game is interesting in itself as a cultural phenomenon that had arisen in the history of humanity before culture itself, then entered into it and became an integral part of social practices. Second, during revolutionary technological changes in the field of the information interaction of people and the emergence of the so-called digital environment, games known to humanity turn from a class of physical and mental exercises into imagination games based on the technical power of computer devices and network communications. The nomenclature of games is expanding, their genre diversity is growing, the design is being fortified; games content is differentiated and deepened, their mythology is being formed. Thus, the “digital” space of our time is in the stage of continuous shaping. Its architectonics predetermines the formation on the Internet of the institution of the game as a newly-formed one, among the formation factors of which the decisive ones stand out – media and mythogenesis. Media determines a qualitatively different state of historically known game formats, while mythogenesis contributes to the accelerated institutionalization of the media games in the social practices. The study of the problems is based on the results of the work of the researchers on the social significance of the game in the “digital” space of the 21st century and the content analysis of the media games by their types. In this study, the formation of media games as the cultural intitution of the “digital” sphere is established. The functioning of the new formation takes place in the conditions and conventions of unlimited time and space. Keywords: cultural institute, media, digital space, games, mythogenesis

scholarly journals A deliberative solution to the social choice problem

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Mladenovic
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Choice ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Social Choice Theory ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Choice Problem ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
The Social

Is there a sense in which society makes rational decision in a democratic way that is similar to individual rational decision-making? Social choice theory claims that rational social choice is not possible. Or, at least, that if possible, then the social choice must be dictatorial. I shall present a deliberative solution to the social choice problem. This solution is called deliberative, because it is based on the assumptions of deliberative democracy.

Women in Power and Decision making Positions : Conditions and Restraints

1970 ◽  
pp. 53-57
Author(s):  
Azza Charara Baydoun
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Slow Progress

Women today are considered to be outside the political and administrative power structures and their participation in the decision-making process is non-existent. As far as their participation in the political life is concerned they are still on the margins. The existence of patriarchal society in Lebanon as well as the absence of governmental policies and procedures that aim at helping women and enhancing their political participation has made it very difficult for women to be accepted as leaders and to be granted votes in elections (UNIFEM, 2002).This above quote is taken from a report that was prepared to assess the progress made regarding the status of Lebanese women both on the social and governmental levels in light of the Beijing Platform for Action – the name given to the provisions of the Fourth Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. The above quote describes the slow progress achieved by Lebanese women in view of the ambitious goal that requires that the proportion of women occupying administrative or political positions in Lebanon should reach 30 percent of thetotal by the year 2005!

Murder with Impunity: The Construction of Arab Masculinities and Honor Crimes

1970 ◽  
pp. 38-45
Author(s):  
May Abu Jaber
Keyword(s):  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Media ◽  
The One ◽  
Male Authority ◽  
Cultural Networks ◽  
Gender Specific

Violence against women (VAW) continues to exist as a pervasive, structural,systematic, and institutionalized violation of women’s basic human rights (UNDivision of Advancement for Women, 2006). It cuts across the boundaries of age, race, class, education, and religion which affect women of all ages and all backgrounds in every corner of the world. Such violence is used to control and subjugate women by instilling a sense of insecurity that keeps them “bound to the home, economically exploited and socially suppressed” (Mathu, 2008, p. 65). It is estimated that one out of every five women worldwide will be abused during her lifetime with rates reaching up to 70 percent in some countries (WHO, 2005). Whether this abuse is perpetrated by the state and its agents, by family members, or even by strangers, VAW is closely related to the regulation of sexuality in a gender specific (patriarchal) manner. This regulation is, on the one hand, maintained through the implementation of strict cultural, communal, and religious norms, and on the other hand, through particular legal measures that sustain these norms. Therefore, religious institutions, the media, the family/tribe, cultural networks, and the legal system continually disciplinewomen’s sexuality and punish those women (and in some instances men) who have transgressed or allegedly contravened the social boundaries of ‘appropriateness’ as delineated by each society. Such women/men may include lesbians/gays, women who appear ‘too masculine’ or men who appear ‘too feminine,’ women who try to exercise their rights freely or men who do not assert their rights as ‘real men’ should, women/men who have been sexually assaulted or raped, and women/men who challenge male/older male authority.

Disruptive Fixation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christo Sims
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
New Media ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Middle Schoolers ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Media ◽  
Class Divisions ◽  
Conventional Type

In New York City in 2009, a new kind of public school opened its doors to its inaugural class of middle schoolers. Conceived by a team of game designers and progressive educational reformers and backed by prominent philanthropic foundations, it promised to reinvent the classroom for the digital age. This book documents the life of the school from its planning stages to the graduation of its first eighth-grade class. It is the account of how this “school for digital kids,” heralded as a model of tech-driven educational reform, reverted to a more conventional type of schooling with rote learning, an emphasis on discipline, and traditional hierarchies of authority. Troubling gender and racialized class divisions also emerged. The book shows how the philanthropic possibilities of new media technologies are repeatedly idealized even though actual interventions routinely fall short of the desired outcomes. It traces the complex processes by which idealistic tech-reform perennially takes root, unsettles the worlds into which it intervenes, and eventually stabilizes in ways that remake and extend many of the social predicaments reformers hope to fix. It offers a nuanced look at the roles that powerful elites, experts, the media, and the intended beneficiaries of reform—in this case, the students and their parents—play in perpetuating the cycle. The book offers a timely examination of techno-philanthropism and the yearnings and dilemmas it seeks to address, revealing what failed interventions do manage to accomplish—and for whom.

The War of US against ISIS in Psychological Warfare and Internet as the New Frontline

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Urtak Hamiti
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
Good News ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Media Center ◽  
The People ◽  
Psychological Warfare ◽  
The Media ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Hearts And Minds

Barbaric, savage, horrific-these were terms to define the decision of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to murder its captured Jordanian pilot by burning him alive inspired a thesaurus of horror and revulsion. The men who did it, the perpetrators were described by the media as mad men, thugs, monsters. To most of the people, the act itself seemed inexplicable and without sense. However, behind the choreographed and videotaped violence lies a calculated horrible cold logic. Although, ISIS is often portrait as a mighty force on the ground in Syria and Iraq, facts state that they control mainly communications between various provinces in both countries, and, as most guerrilla armies, are militarily weak by conventional measure. ISIS has little or almost none defense against the bombing campaign that is facing now, while US has formed a coalition that is confronting them on the ground as well, after President Barack Obama published the “New Security Doctrine” which includes degrading and finally destroying ISIS. ISIS, however, have proven to be very organized in promoting dramatic acts of violence against their enemies and promoting them two achieve two goals: use terror tactics as a psychological weapon against all those facing them and all those that are to face them in combat. Secondly, through usage of social network platforms to promote killings and executions, the aim of ISIS is to encourage recruits from out of Syria and Iraq, and elsewhere, to join them in their cause. Online operations of ISIS fall under a production group called the Al Hayat Media Center. The Center was created to seduce Westerners into joining the ranks of ISIS and also to distribute propaganda through social and media platforms. It is difficult to assess the success of this operation, but solid sources provided by US military and intelligence estimate that at least 300 Americans are fighting in the ranks of ISIS (at least two Americans have been killed fighting for ISIS in Iraq/Syria region) while the number of Europeans is in thousands. The US Response to this psychological kind of warfare came when President Barack Obama established the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC) aiming to combat terrorist propaganda. The main strategy of CSCC is not directly to confront ISIS operatives, but rather than that to deal with the people they are trying to recruit. Now, with almost entire international public opinion on their side, it is time for US to more actively respond to ISIS especially in the manner of psychological warfare since it is obvious that operations of “winning hearts and minds” of people in Iraq and Syria are not enough compared to ruthless tactics of ISIS which “winning hearts and minds” by brute force, terror, and vivid violent images. The online propaganda war is a new component to conflicts of 21st century that allows enemies to reach one another’s home fronts directly. ISIS might seem not so strong on the ground but it has captured one fundamental flaw of the media of 21st century-the one that bad news is always good news and that televised violence will always have an audience. ISIS has proclaimed that its goal is to create a caliphate of 21st century but its psychological warfare and propaganda is inspiring individuals throughout the West to commit horrible terrorist crimes. Could this be another mind game set up by ISIS, it remains to be seen. However one thing is for certain, US and its allies must tackle ISIS not only by planes and other military means, but also by a strategy that would eliminate its influence in spreading their propaganda.

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