Observing protest: media use and student involvement on 7 April 2010 in Bishkek,Kyrgyzstan

Individuals in and around protests are generally classified as either participants or nonparticipants. However, observers witnessing protests can also play an important role in collective actions by sharing their experiences. This paper explores the characteristics of observers during the 7 April 2010 demonstrations in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Based on data collected via a survey of university students, I demonstrate that protest observers differed from nonparticipants on a range of variables. A key factor differentiating student observers from nonparticipants was their online activity prior to the protests. Logistic regressions show that students with higher rates of online activity were significantly and substantially more likely to be protest observers than nonparticipants. These findings provide empirical evidence for categorizing observation as a distinct level of protest involvement, shed light on the demonstration in Bishkek on 7 April 2010, and suggest that examining online activity can contribute to a better understanding of protest involvement levels.     

Exploring the link between trust and political participation in a divided society: evidence from South Africa

In empirical research political scientists have found that individuals with higher levels of trust participate more frequently in politics. But how does this link manifest in deeply divided societies? Examining South Africa 10 years after transitioning to democracy, this paper argues that South Africans’ attitudes towards ethnic others shape their decision to participate in political activities. Drawing upon scholarship on the micro-foundations of trust and participation and using Afrobarometer survey data from over 2000 respondents across South Africa in 2005, I find that South Africans who have been more trusting of non-coethnics have participated more frequently in a broad range of political activities.     

The political knowledge of Libyan university students: Sirte and Omar Al-Mukhtar universities as two examples

This article reports on a study measuring the political knowledge of a sample of students at the Sirte and Omar Al-Mukhtar universities in Libya in 2015–2016. Variables such as the university attendees, gender, residence, type of faculty, family’s economic condition and parents’ educational level were factored into the analysis, and a sample of 400 students from the two universities was selected to provide survey data. Findings indicate that acquiring political knowledge, as a whole, requires great effort to accommodate Libya’s current circumstances. Variables of gender, residence and university type make a difference in the level of political knowledge. While income and the level of parents’ education do not determine the extent of political knowledge, the value placed on citizenship was found to have a strong effect on the variation in legal and political knowledge and on the students’ understanding of the political process.     

Social media,civil unrest and government responses: the Zimbabwean experience

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the discontent that increased against the Robert Mugabe led government as a result of grave socio-economic and political grievances, and in the context of accessible social media platforms which mobilised and empowered disenfranchised Zimbabweans to challenge the regime after the 2013 elections. Among other factors, the mounting discontent was caused by the belated payment of civil servants’ salaries, inability to create employment opportunities, refusal to enact electoral reforms, rampant corruption and the introduction of import ban restrictions. This led to the formation of civic organisations which demanded the resignation of Mugabe and these included, but were not limited to, #Tajamuka and #ThisFlag. In response, the Mugabe led government used rigid and repressive measures targeting the protesters, as well as traditional and social media platforms to safeguard itself.     

Social media and Russian territorial irredentism: some facts and a conjecture

ABSTRACT

After Kremlin policymakers decided to incorporate the territory of Crimea into Russia, updates on public attitudes in Russian-speaking communities elsewhere in Ukraine would have been in high demand. Because social media users produce content in order to communicate ideas to their social networks, online political discourse can provide important clues about the political dispositions of communities. We map the evolution of Russian-speakers’ attitudes, expressed on social media, across the course of the conflict as Russian analysts might have observed them at the time. Results suggest that the Russian-Ukrainian interstate border only moved as far as their military could have advanced while incurring no occupation costs – Crimea, and no further.     

Subnational Regionalisation in Argentina: The Effects of Subjective Interdependence and the Relationships between Actors on Intermunicipal Cooperation

This article studies the networks of intermunicipal cooperation that occur through a process of subnational regionalization. It analyses data from two Regional Communities in the Province of Córdoba, Argentina. The results show that interlocal subjective interdependence and strong relationships between actors, results in greater inter‐municipal cooperation Furthermore, the results of the analysis suggest that interpersonal trust does not necessarily result in institutional coordination. While the local political parties are not a significant variable in this study, geographic distance does seem to play a role in the larger process of intergovernmental coordination.     

Acts of collusion: myth,media, and the populist imagination in the 2016 United States presidential election

ABSTRACT

This article considers the hypothesis that the 2016 nomination of Hillary Clinton appeared rigged because the Democratic Party persuaded itself that the next step in guaranteeing Obama’s legacy and advancing democratic progress would be the election of the first woman president. Democracy finds logical steps in politics suspicious (even dangerous); consequently, the constructed stability and order begin to falter or appear compromised. In this context, populist figures like Trump may gain political legitimacy by claiming to be outsiders speaking with the voice of the people. Populism, founded on a mythical notion of sovereignty, promises direct access to the democratic experience through four interconnected mythologies (unity, conspiracy, the golden age, and the savior), as evident in the 2016 election. The democratic struggle accordingly extended to Trump’s attacks on the media (as “fake news”) and to the Mueller investigation of collusion between the Trump campaign and foreign actors representing the Russian government.     

General Election 2015 in Singapore: What Social Media Did and Did not Do

Abstract

The online buzz leading up to the 2015 Singapore general election (GE2015) favoured opposition parties and personalities, encouraging perceptions that the opposition would garner more votes than in 2011. Instead, the ruling People’s Action Party won and saw an increase in their vote share from 60.1% in 2011 to 69.9%. What role, then, did social media play in this election? This study shows that, against prevailing assumptions, GE2015 was not a social media election. Through an online survey of 2,000 respondents conducted after polling day, it was found that mainstream media and their online counterparts were used most frequently and were trusted more as sources of information about the election. Online and offline political participation was also low. However, social media users were more interested in election issues, were more likely to discuss politics with others and participated more in offline political activities than non-users.     

Freedom to hate: social media,algorithmic enclaves,and the rise of tribal nationalism in Indonesia

Empirically grounded in the 2017 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election (Pilkada DKI) case, this article discusses the relationship of social media and electoral politics in Indonesia. There is no doubt that sectarianism and racism played significant roles in the election and social media, which were heavily utilized during the campaign, contributed to the increasing polarization among Indonesians. However, it is misleading to frame the contestation among ordinary citizens on social media in an oppositional binary, such as democratic versus undemocratic forces, pluralism versus sectarianism, or rational versus racist voters. Marked by the utilization of volunteers, buzzers, and micro-celebrities, the Pilkada DKI exemplifies the practice of post-truth politics in marketing the brand. While encouraging freedom of expression, social media also emboldens freedom to hate, where individuals exercise their right to voice their opinions while actively silencing others. Unraveling the complexity of the relationship between social media and electoral politics, I suggest that the mutual shaping between users and algorithms results in the formation of “algorithmic enclaves” that, in turn, produce multiple forms of tribal nationalism. Within these multiple online enclaves, social media users claim and legitimize their own versions of nationalism by excluding equality and justice for others.