The capricious relationship between technology and democracy: Analyzing public policy discussions in the UK and US

Abstract

This study provides a comparative survey of policymaking discourse in the United Kingdom and the United States from 2016 to 2020 around digital threats to democracy. Through an inductive coding process, it identifies six core ideals common in these two countries: transparency, accountability, engagement, informed public, social solidarity, and freedom of expression. Reviewing how these ideals are constructed in policy-making documents, we find differences in each country's emphasis, inconsistencies in how some democratic ideals are evoked and promoted, conflicts between different democratic ideals, and disconnects between empirical realities of democracy and policymaking discourse. There is a lack of clarity in what social solidarity, engagement, and freedom of expression mean and how they should be balanced; conceptions of an informed public are deeply fraught, and in tension with other ideals. We argue that policymaking discourse is often out of step with the growing literature which suggests that political conflicts between social groups, right-wing extremism, and antidemocratic actions increasingly taken by elites and parties are at the root of growing democratic crises. This state of policy-making discourse has important implications for attempts to pursue regulation and suggests the need for further reflection by policymakers on the democratic ideals they are solving for.

The barriers to regulating the online world: Insights from UK debates on online political advertising

“…To honour the anonymity agreement, no names are provided within this article (with one exception), and specific organisations are only mentioned where express consent was provided. Interview transcripts were coded using Nvivo, employing an inductive coding process that sought to identify the barriers to regulation (see similar method in Barrett et al, 2021). We read transcripts closely and hand-coded interview responses, identifying themes around 'barriers to regulation', but also other codes such as 'options for reform', 'regulation principles' and 'the effectiveness of online political advertising'.…”

Analysis of Democracy Performances of G7 Countries: An Application With Psi Method

“…Additionally, according to the Granger causality test, democracy positively affected ecological footprint and renewable energy (p. 595-605). Barrett et al (2021) conducted an analysis of the relationship between democracy and technology dimensions based on the literature. In this context, the study found that transparency, accountability, participation, informed society, social cohesion, and freedom of expression are common factors that facilitate a significant relationship between democracy and technology (p. 522-543).…”

Digital Technology, Politics, and Policy-Making

“…There is a widely held view that digital technology causes problems requiring policy responses, but there is no consensus on what the problems actually are, nor, therefore, what kinds of actions would be appropriate. Even the agreement on the root cause might be misguided to the extent that "digital technology is seen as the driver of trends that have deeper, more longstanding, and social and institutional roots" (Barrett et al, 2021). On the one hand, there is nothing special about this tension.…”