University of Twente Student Theses
The Survival of Democracy in a technological society
Schröder, Marieke (2020) The Survival of Democracy in a technological society.
|
PDF
1MB |
| Abstract: | This research offers an interpretation of the meanings attributed to democracy in the Cambridge Analytics Scandal in British newspaper coverage. It is thereby assumed that the revelation of several security issues in the democratic system implies a change of democracy. To answer the research question and validate the assumptions, an interpretive approach is applied, preforming a direct content analysis of 138 newspaper articles published from the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph in 2018. It is found, that the values “free” and “fair” are no longer associated with elections and furthermore the original aristocratic idea behind electoral system occurred: The control of the citizenry. Moreover, through the methodology of microtargeting, the access to independent information is threatened. The close relationship between governments and tech firms uncovers the responsibility of politics regarding the infrastructural power of tech firms. Hence, all found security issues threatened the electoral system, and thus leads to its change. Consequently, the change of the electoral system implies a change of democracy. Corresponding, it is assumed, that a new form of democracy occurred. Potentially a technological democracy shaped by its technological society. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 89 political science |
| Programme: | Management Society and Technology BSc (56654) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/82274 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
Show download statistics for this publication
Show download statistics for this publicationRepository Staff Only: item control page