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Defining Democracy in a Digital Age

Political Support on Social Media

  • Book
  • © 2014

Overview

Authors:
  1. Barend Lutz

    1. Red24, South Africa

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  2. Pierre Toit

    1. Department of Political Science, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

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    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

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Table of contents (5 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
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  2. Democracy in the New Digital Age

    • Barend Lutz, Pierre du Toit
    Pages 1-11

  3. Twentieth-Century Democracy and Its Social Base

    • Barend Lutz, Pierre du Toit
    Pages 12-36

  4. The Development of Methods for Measuring Expressions on Democracy

    • Barend Lutz, Pierre du Toit
    Pages 37-62

  5. Measuring Support for Democracy on Twitter

    • Barend Lutz, Pierre du Toit
    Pages 63-91

  6. New Imagined Communities in the Digital Age

    • Barend Lutz, Pierre du Toit
    Pages 92-122

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 123-138
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Keywords

About this book

The internet has created a new social base where governments are ever more critically examined and measuring public sentiment expressed on social media is crucial to gauging ongoing support for democracy. This book illustrates a methodology for doing so, and considers the impact of this new public sphere on the future of democracy.

Reviews

'Social media has dramatically changed the flow and availability of information in society. Lutz and Du Toit present a fascinating view on the new public spaces that have emerged, and how computational linguistics can help us make sense of them. This highly accessible text will be of interest not just of scholars in this field, but of anyone interested in how communication shapes democracy.'

G. J. Van Rooyen, MIH Media Lab Director, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

'A fascinating book dealing with the core attributes of democratic stability and the value of traditional measurement of expressions on democracy. Twitter is investigated as a new form of the public sphere useful for gauging public expressions of democracy, concluding with an overview of the likely future impact of the digital age on modern democracy.

A must-read for anyone interested on the effect of digital media and the Internet on the evolution of democracy and modern society'.

H. A. Engelbrecht, MIH Media Lab Director, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Authors and Affiliations

  • Red24, South Africa

    Barend Lutz

  • Department of Political Science, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Pierre Toit

About the authors

Barend Lutz is a political/security risk analyst and big data analyst with a background in Value and Policy Studies and International Relations. His research is focused on integrating next-generation internet technology and political science. He is an alumnus of Stellenbosch University, the MIH Media Lab, University of Hong Kong and Sciences-Po grande école Paris.
 
Pierre du Toit is Professor in the Department of Political Science at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. His latest book, co-authored with Hennie Kotzé, is Liberal Democracy and Peace in South Africa. The Pursuit of Freedom as Dignity. (2011). His latest edited work, with Nicola de Jager, is Friend or Foe? Dominant Party Systems Southern Africa (2013).

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