Do social media change the influence of citizens?

Do social media change

the political influence of citizens?

Chris Aalberts

www.chrisaalberts.nlSirius

Who am I?

Researcher and lecturer• Relationship between citizens and politics• Topics such as: populism, social media,

Europe, etc.

www.chrisaalberts.nlSirius

Representative democracy

• Citizens choose their political representatives• These politicians make all political decisions• Representatives are dependent on the popular

vote

Core idea is:• Citizens have the final say• Citizens do not have everyday influence• Often seen as old-fashioned

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Direct democracy

• Citizens have a direct influence on decisions• Citizens make decisions themselves• Instead of or together with politicians

Core idea is:• Citizens have everyday influence• Ideal which is not everyday practice• Often seen as good for critical citizens

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Role of the internet

• Direct democracy works only in small groups• Representative democracy is more efficient

• Internet makes direct democracy a real option• Citizens can voice their opinions together

• This is useful in representative democracy too• Politicians will know what their citizens think

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DO CITIZENS MAKE THEMSELVES HEARD?

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Politically active on sociale media?

Many users of social media• Facebook• Hyves• LinkedIn• Twitter

• Citizens talk about politics on social media • Research on which opinions can be heard

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Who are these citizens?

• Social media are used by almost everyone• But does every user use them for political

purposes?

Specific target group• Higher educated• Youth• Men

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Which opinions are heard?

• Do these citizens have the same opinions as the rest of the population?

Example: diplome democracy• Higher educated are most prominent • Different opinions and different interests• Different party preferences

• Probably the same for the young

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Organising different interests

• Citizens can raise their voice together• These are the same citizens as in other

contexts• Sometimes supported by NGOs

Examples• Protests against 1040 hours of school a year• Protest against the local authorities in

Amsterdam• And many more

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WILL CITIZENS BE HEARD?

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Is listening important for politicians?

Politicians have become more insecure• Floating voters• Less members of political parties• Smaller number of volunteers• Many parties have become very similar• Less support for policies• The rise of populism

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Are politicians able to listen?

Listening is not a main task• For many politicians, politics is a part time job

Politicians have many other tasks• Having meetings • Having contact with their political party• Collecting information about political issues• Reading documents• Contacts with the media

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Are politicians willing to listen?

The interest of politicians is to listen• More citizens will vote for them• Party leaders will put them on the list of

candidates• Leads to attention from the media • Gives them more status• Gives them a more modern image

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WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES?

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Is the information relevant?

Citizens bring irrelevant information• Opinions that lack a factual basis• Many facts that were already known• Problem is to find new information• No guarantee what there is something

valuable in all citizen’s responses

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Whose information is this?

• Politicians know what the opinions of citizens are

• But who are these citizens? • High chance that it is a specific target group

No idea whether the information is representative for• The population• Party members• Voters

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What is the value?

Experience does not give any hope• The content is often useless• Time to read responses is unrelated to the

value of the information

Solutions• Not read any responses and not giving

answers• Send thank you notes• Send everyone the same reply

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IS DIRECT DEMOCRACY BETTER?

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What would happen…

The same citizens would be active• A majority is not politically active• The majority will only vote • Many people do not vote already at the

moment• Politically active citizens still feel this would be

good• They will have the chance to be even more

influential• The existing problem will be worse

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WHAT HAS CHANGED?

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Similarities

• Small group of citizens is very active• Many citizens want politicians who listen• Many efforts to influence politicians• Politicians communicate to citizens (one-way)• Real dialogue is still difficult• Direct influence on policies is small

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Differences

• Expectation that politicians are able to listen• More pressure on politicians to have a dialogue• Possibly: more influence of citizens

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Conclusion

• Internet changes a lot, on the first sight

But after some reflection…• Citizens’ behaviours will not change• Citizens do not have other interests• Theoretical options will not be used

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