Download full text
(external source)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://doi.org/10.14763/2019.2.1416
Exports for your reference manager
Mediated democracy - linking digital technology to political agency
[journal article]
Abstract Although the relationship between digitalisation and democracy is subject of growing public attention, the nature of this relationship is rarely addressed in a systematic manner. The common understanding is that digital media are the driver of the political change we are facing today. This paper arg... view more
Although the relationship between digitalisation and democracy is subject of growing public attention, the nature of this relationship is rarely addressed in a systematic manner. The common understanding is that digital media are the driver of the political change we are facing today. This paper argues against such a causal approach und proposes a co-evolutionary perspective instead. Inspired by Benedict Anderson's "Imagined Communities" and recent research on mediatisation, it introduces the concept of mediated democracy. This concept reflects the simple idea that representative democracy requires technical mediation, and that the rise of modern democracy and of communication media are therefore closely intertwined. Hence, mediated democracy denotes a research perspective, not a type of democracy. It explores the changing interplay of democratic organisation and communication media as a contingent constellation, which could have evolved differently. Specific forms of communication media emerge in tandem with larger societal formations and mutually enable each other. Following this argument, the current constellation reflects a transformation of representative democracy and the spread of digital media. The latter is interpreted as a "training ground" for experimenting with new forms of democratic agency.... view less
Keywords
democracy; mediatization; digitalization; communication technology; representative democracy
Classification
Basic Research, General Concepts and History of Political Science
Interactive, electronic Media
Free Keywords
agency
Document language
English
Publication Year
2019
Page/Pages
p. 1-18
Journal
Internet Policy Review, 8 (2019) 2
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/10419/205258
ISSN
2197-6775
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed