Popular, Accessible, Inclusive: Social Media as an Ideal for Decision-making in a Democracy

Rhea Ledesma-Gumasing; Regina Mendoza-Armiendo

doi:doi:10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12

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Popular, Accessible, Inclusive: Social Media as an Ideal for Decision-making in a Democracy

Rhea Ledesma-Gumasing, Regina Mendoza-Armiendo

Published in Journal of Public Policy and Administration (Volume 5, Issue 4)

Received: 3 October 2021 Accepted: 22 October 2021 Published: 30 October 2021

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Abstract

Restrictions to participation attract skepticism to ordinary citizens’ capacity to be engaged in the political decision-making process in a democratic society. Social media platforms address these skepticisms by outlining features of social media that facilitate discourses, quality civic engagement, and responsibility, necessary in preserving democratic ideals and practice in society. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, including algorithms and artificial intelligence, are regarded as better media to be trusted with political decision-making as they remove constraints of bias, accessibility, discrimination, and power imbalances usually found in precarious settings like face-to-face deliberations and of political representations. Employing analysis of secondary data from peer-reviewed journals and dissertations enabled us to harvest insights needed to substantiate the arguments and conclusions made in this article. This paper demonstrates the arguments for the ubiquity of social media as an ideal for the decision-making process in a democratic space. However, the presence of impediments as provided for by the social media platforms and governments including censorship, regulation, and legitimacy must be recognized for the merit it attaches to quality deliberations through social media. Using the normative ideals of inclusivity and epistemic value of participation, social media indeed is an ideal for decision-making particularly when the conditions under which the biases are developed and explained are held. In the end, accepting social media as an ideal to decision-making in democracy should not be accepted as is, unless theorization of the role of social media and justification of its merits is made. Without such, we may fail to account for what we seek in social media to support democracy.

Published in	Journal of Public Policy and Administration (Volume 5, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12
Page(s)	131-138
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Social Media, Decision-making, Inclusive, Democracy

References

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Rhea Ledesma-Gumasing, Regina Mendoza-Armiendo. (2021). Popular, Accessible, Inclusive: Social Media as an Ideal for Decision-making in a Democracy. Journal of Public Policy and Administration, 5(4), 131-138. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12

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Rhea Ledesma-Gumasing; Regina Mendoza-Armiendo. Popular, Accessible, Inclusive: Social Media as an Ideal for Decision-making in a Democracy. J. Public Policy Adm. 2021, 5(4), 131-138. doi: 10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12

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Rhea Ledesma-Gumasing, Regina Mendoza-Armiendo. Popular, Accessible, Inclusive: Social Media as an Ideal for Decision-making in a Democracy. J Public Policy Adm. 2021;5(4):131-138. doi: 10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12

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@article{10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12,
  author = {Rhea Ledesma-Gumasing and Regina Mendoza-Armiendo},
  title = {Popular, Accessible, Inclusive: Social Media as an Ideal for Decision-making in a Democracy},
  journal = {Journal of Public Policy and Administration},
  volume = {5},
  number = {4},
  pages = {131-138},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jppa.20210504.12},
  abstract = {Restrictions to participation attract skepticism to ordinary citizens’ capacity to be engaged in the political decision-making process in a democratic society. Social media platforms address these skepticisms by outlining features of social media that facilitate discourses, quality civic engagement, and responsibility, necessary in preserving democratic ideals and practice in society. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, including algorithms and artificial intelligence, are regarded as better media to be trusted with political decision-making as they remove constraints of bias, accessibility, discrimination, and power imbalances usually found in precarious settings like face-to-face deliberations and of political representations. Employing analysis of secondary data from peer-reviewed journals and dissertations enabled us to harvest insights needed to substantiate the arguments and conclusions made in this article. This paper demonstrates the arguments for the ubiquity of social media as an ideal for the decision-making process in a democratic space. However, the presence of impediments as provided for by the social media platforms and governments including censorship, regulation, and legitimacy must be recognized for the merit it attaches to quality deliberations through social media. Using the normative ideals of inclusivity and epistemic value of participation, social media indeed is an ideal for decision-making particularly when the conditions under which the biases are developed and explained are held. In the end, accepting social media as an ideal to decision-making in democracy should not be accepted as is, unless theorization of the role of social media and justification of its merits is made. Without such, we may fail to account for what we seek in social media to support democracy.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Popular, Accessible, Inclusive: Social Media as an Ideal for Decision-making in a Democracy
AU  - Rhea Ledesma-Gumasing
AU  - Regina Mendoza-Armiendo
Y1  - 2021/10/30
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12
T2  - Journal of Public Policy and Administration
JF  - Journal of Public Policy and Administration
JO  - Journal of Public Policy and Administration
SP  - 131
EP  - 138
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-2696
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12
AB  - Restrictions to participation attract skepticism to ordinary citizens’ capacity to be engaged in the political decision-making process in a democratic society. Social media platforms address these skepticisms by outlining features of social media that facilitate discourses, quality civic engagement, and responsibility, necessary in preserving democratic ideals and practice in society. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, including algorithms and artificial intelligence, are regarded as better media to be trusted with political decision-making as they remove constraints of bias, accessibility, discrimination, and power imbalances usually found in precarious settings like face-to-face deliberations and of political representations. Employing analysis of secondary data from peer-reviewed journals and dissertations enabled us to harvest insights needed to substantiate the arguments and conclusions made in this article. This paper demonstrates the arguments for the ubiquity of social media as an ideal for the decision-making process in a democratic space. However, the presence of impediments as provided for by the social media platforms and governments including censorship, regulation, and legitimacy must be recognized for the merit it attaches to quality deliberations through social media. Using the normative ideals of inclusivity and epistemic value of participation, social media indeed is an ideal for decision-making particularly when the conditions under which the biases are developed and explained are held. In the end, accepting social media as an ideal to decision-making in democracy should not be accepted as is, unless theorization of the role of social media and justification of its merits is made. Without such, we may fail to account for what we seek in social media to support democracy.
VL  - 5
IS  - 4
ER  -

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Rhea Ledesma-Gumasing

College of Public Affairs and Development, University of the Philippines Los Ba?os, Los Ba?os, Philippines
Regina Mendoza-Armiendo

College of Public Affairs and Development, University of the Philippines Los Ba?os, Los Ba?os, Philippines

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Rhea Ledesma-Gumasing, Regina Mendoza-Armiendo. (2021). Popular, Accessible, Inclusive: Social Media as an Ideal for Decision-making in a Democracy. Journal of Public Policy and Administration, 5(4), 131-138. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12

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Rhea Ledesma-Gumasing; Regina Mendoza-Armiendo. Popular, Accessible, Inclusive: Social Media as an Ideal for Decision-making in a Democracy. J. Public Policy Adm. 2021, 5(4), 131-138. doi: 10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12

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Rhea Ledesma-Gumasing, Regina Mendoza-Armiendo. Popular, Accessible, Inclusive: Social Media as an Ideal for Decision-making in a Democracy. J Public Policy Adm. 2021;5(4):131-138. doi: 10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12

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@article{10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12,
  author = {Rhea Ledesma-Gumasing and Regina Mendoza-Armiendo},
  title = {Popular, Accessible, Inclusive: Social Media as an Ideal for Decision-making in a Democracy},
  journal = {Journal of Public Policy and Administration},
  volume = {5},
  number = {4},
  pages = {131-138},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jppa.20210504.12},
  abstract = {Restrictions to participation attract skepticism to ordinary citizens’ capacity to be engaged in the political decision-making process in a democratic society. Social media platforms address these skepticisms by outlining features of social media that facilitate discourses, quality civic engagement, and responsibility, necessary in preserving democratic ideals and practice in society. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, including algorithms and artificial intelligence, are regarded as better media to be trusted with political decision-making as they remove constraints of bias, accessibility, discrimination, and power imbalances usually found in precarious settings like face-to-face deliberations and of political representations. Employing analysis of secondary data from peer-reviewed journals and dissertations enabled us to harvest insights needed to substantiate the arguments and conclusions made in this article. This paper demonstrates the arguments for the ubiquity of social media as an ideal for the decision-making process in a democratic space. However, the presence of impediments as provided for by the social media platforms and governments including censorship, regulation, and legitimacy must be recognized for the merit it attaches to quality deliberations through social media. Using the normative ideals of inclusivity and epistemic value of participation, social media indeed is an ideal for decision-making particularly when the conditions under which the biases are developed and explained are held. In the end, accepting social media as an ideal to decision-making in democracy should not be accepted as is, unless theorization of the role of social media and justification of its merits is made. Without such, we may fail to account for what we seek in social media to support democracy.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Popular, Accessible, Inclusive: Social Media as an Ideal for Decision-making in a Democracy
AU  - Rhea Ledesma-Gumasing
AU  - Regina Mendoza-Armiendo
Y1  - 2021/10/30
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12
T2  - Journal of Public Policy and Administration
JF  - Journal of Public Policy and Administration
JO  - Journal of Public Policy and Administration
SP  - 131
EP  - 138
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-2696
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jppa.20210504.12
AB  - Restrictions to participation attract skepticism to ordinary citizens’ capacity to be engaged in the political decision-making process in a democratic society. Social media platforms address these skepticisms by outlining features of social media that facilitate discourses, quality civic engagement, and responsibility, necessary in preserving democratic ideals and practice in society. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, including algorithms and artificial intelligence, are regarded as better media to be trusted with political decision-making as they remove constraints of bias, accessibility, discrimination, and power imbalances usually found in precarious settings like face-to-face deliberations and of political representations. Employing analysis of secondary data from peer-reviewed journals and dissertations enabled us to harvest insights needed to substantiate the arguments and conclusions made in this article. This paper demonstrates the arguments for the ubiquity of social media as an ideal for the decision-making process in a democratic space. However, the presence of impediments as provided for by the social media platforms and governments including censorship, regulation, and legitimacy must be recognized for the merit it attaches to quality deliberations through social media. Using the normative ideals of inclusivity and epistemic value of participation, social media indeed is an ideal for decision-making particularly when the conditions under which the biases are developed and explained are held. In the end, accepting social media as an ideal to decision-making in democracy should not be accepted as is, unless theorization of the role of social media and justification of its merits is made. Without such, we may fail to account for what we seek in social media to support democracy.
VL  - 5
IS  - 4
ER  -

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