scholarly journals Following Fenno: Learning from Senate Candidates in the Age of Social Media and Party Polarization

The Forum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-170
Author(s):  
David C.W. Parker

Abstract Students of American politics are indebted to Richard Fenno’s path-breaking work, Home Style, published four decades ago. But, given the book’s widespread acclaim, few have taken Fenno’s prescription to go back home with members of Congress to heart. In this essay, I echo Fenno’s call for scholars to become participant-observers of the political process while offering the modern “soaker and poker” a guide to the pitfalls and opportunities of pursuing such a research project. I respond to Fenno’s methodological treatise, written as the appendix to Home Style, focusing in particular on gaining access and how to remain publicly engaged while observing a competitive Senate campaign. I discuss how changes in American political culture create additional wrinkles for participant observation that must be considered, especially if scholars chose to remain engaged in public outreach. I conclude by addressing the need to consider carefully the ethics of engaging the political world we study, particularly in the light of the Stanford-Dartmouth experiment scandal rocking Montana in the weeks preceding the state’s 2014 judicial elections. We may not all do participant observation, but we should follow Fenno when considering the implications of interfering in the political world as we study it.

PERSPEKTIF ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-46
Author(s):  
Bhakti Satrio Wicaksono

This article aims to find out what happened to digital democracy regarding the Dildo account case. This research uses descriptive qualitative research research methods. The type of observation method used is the non-participation observation method. The non-participant observation method is the method that researchers chose in conducting this research. The results of the study show that the view of digital democracy can be seen from two perspectives, namely the government and the people's point of view. Political parody basically offers a new way of engaging in the political world. The Dildo case shows that not everyone can freely express their opinion on social media. The freedom to voice opinions, especially through cyberspace, still cannot be said to be free. This can be seen with how when the Dildo account voices humor and national issues that are close to the public, it still gets contra opinions from other parties. The conclusion of the research is that political parody basically offers a new way of engaging in the political world. Dildo case shows that not everyone can freely express their opinion in social media. The existence of internet technology in terms of statehood can be a double-edged knife, especially on social media where information is spread so fast. Parody or current humor is treated wisely and is not necessarily considered a dangerous thing.


Author(s):  
Philip Habel ◽  
Yannis Theocharis

In the last decade, big data, and social media in particular, have seen increased popularity among citizens, organizations, politicians, and other elites—which in turn has created new and promising avenues for scholars studying long-standing questions of communication flows and influence. Studies of social media play a prominent role in our evolving understanding of the supply and demand sides of the political process, including the novel strategies adopted by elites to persuade and mobilize publics, as well as the ways in which citizens react, interact with elites and others, and utilize platforms to persuade audiences. While recognizing some challenges, this chapter speaks to the myriad of opportunities that social media data afford for evaluating questions of mobilization and persuasion, ultimately bringing us closer to a more complete understanding Lasswell’s (1948) famous maxim: “who, says what, in which channel, to whom, [and] with what effect.”


2020 ◽  
pp. 21-38
Author(s):  
Sue Kenny

This chapter discusses the contextual landscape of populism, considering it through the framework of political culture. A political culture refers to a set of shared views, imaginaries, beliefs, and normative judgements about the political world. The chapter then offers some introductory thoughts on the problematic intersections between community development, democracy, and populism. There are now many criticisms of populism, from a variety of perspectives. But for the purposes of the chapter, the focus is on the ways in which populism undermines civil society. Understanding populist assaults on civil society is important for community development, because civil society provides the habitat in which the various forms of community development operate. To understand how populism threatens civil society, one can begin with the contrast between civil society and populism in regard to pluralism. After analysing convergences and disjunctions, the chapter looks at the ways in which the beliefs and practices of populism challenge community development. It concludes with a brief discussion of community development responses to populism.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harel Chorev

This essay argues that social media played an important role in the Arab Spring and contributed to a change in the political culture of some of those countries that have gone through regime-change through 2011-2012. The article further posits that the contribution of social media was mainly instrumental, not causal, and that the main reasons behind the Arab Spring were problems generated by regional, local and global trends, affecting each country differently.  


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Lynch

A decade ago, very few political scientists had either the opportunity or the incentive to engage with the political public in a direct, unmediated way. Today, there is a dense and eclectic ecosystem of political science and international relations-focused blogs and online publications, where good work can easily find an audience through social media. There are multiple initiatives dedicated to supporting academic interventions in the public sphere, and virtually every political or cultural magazine of note now offers a robust online section featuring commentary and analysis in which political scientists are well represented. This has transformed publication for a broader public from something exotic to something utterly routine. I discuss how these changes have affected individual scholars, the field of political science, and the political world with which we are engaged.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 95-99
Author(s):  
Бударина ◽  
Kseniya Budarina

The article examines the media´s ability to influence the process of forming political and civic culture of Russian youth. The author revealed the essence of the institute of the media and identified the main functional characteristics of the subject of the political process. The transformation of political values of the Russian youth is substantiated, as well as the instability of its political views in terms of mediatization and development of social media is considered. The priority of media activities is specified that affects the formation of political knowledge and attitudes of young people.


wisdom ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-47
Author(s):  
Emil Ordukhanyan

In modern world various transformations have an impact on social and political processes of the society. Even cultural changes somehow depend on these transformations. Therefore, social and political phenomena need new approaches for their study, where the political culture has its proper relevance. The article explores the theoretical and methodological foundations of political culture based on the analysis of foreign and Armenian scholars works. The behavioral, psychological, comparative and other approaches as well as methods of political culture analysis are examined. In a result of generalization of theoretical approaches and summarizing the outcomes obtained from a comparative analysis of political culture methodologies, we can define political culture as the aggregate of political ideas, knowledge, traditions and values; as a whole of political participation and behavior models; as a relatively stable link between political consciousness and socialization, between stages and levels of political communication tools and political institutions, which defines the political process and which is expressed through the political discourse.


Author(s):  
Brian D. Page

This essay investigates black life in the aftermath of the Memphis Massacre of 1866, chronicling how new migrants helped reconstitute cultural life and political strength. It examines an alliance of black benevolent associations with white elites during the 1876 election. This alliance reflected a practical accommodation to political reality, and it reinforced a political culture built on white domination and black subservience. But it also revealed distinct aims among the black communities in Memphis. Long-term black residents and Republican activists tended to utilize the political process to promote racial equality, while incoming migrants were often the individuals most willing to challenge white supremacy on a daily basis. The migrant population was not monolithic, however. In South Memphis a community-oriented migrant population approached politics as one way to express their independence and desire for freedom from the political culture of white supremacy.


2022 ◽  
pp. 1476-1493
Author(s):  
Stephane Bignoux

The aim of this chapter is to analyse young voter engagement in modern Western democracies. Why young voters? Young voters are disengaged from the political process. In order to complete the analysis, the author adapts an engagement model from social media marketing. The adapted model consists of three parts: consumption, contribution, and (co) creation of brand related materials. The author hypothesises that each aspect of the model is related to the other and that all three aspects of the model are positively related to loyalty to the political party brand. The aim of this conceptual adaptation is to investigate a new way to re-engage young voters with the political party brand, thereby strengthening one pillar of modern democracy.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document