Digital technologies, dysfunctional movement-party dynamics and the threat to democracy

ABSTRACT

On 6 January 2021, the world watched as Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol. However, in this paper, I argue that social scientists should not simply focus on Trump or the Republicans who have supported his false claims that the presidency was stolen from him. Instead, researchers need to leverage the insights provided by sociology, political science and information studies and communication to unpack the increasingly dysfunctional movement-party dynamics in the US, which not only made the 6 January riots possible but continue to erode democratic processes. Here, I outline four developments over the last thirty years that help account for the contemporary political moment and underscore the role of digital technologies in these developments.

KEYWORDS:

• Social movements
• political parties
• democracy
• astroturf organizations
• dysfunctional politics
• Donald Trump

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The account sent so many tweets that Twitter suspected @KianMcIan was a bot and suspended the account. @KianMcIan got the account reinstated, but it was permanently suspended months later.

2 This is according to the public records I was able to find

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Deana A. Rohlinger

Deana A. Rohlinger is a Professor of Sociology and Director of Research for the Institute of Politics at Florida State University. She is the author of Abortion Politics, Mass Media, and Social Movements in America (Cambridge University Press, 2015), New Media and Society (New York University Press, 2019) and more than 50 research articles and book chapters on digital media, political participation, and American politics. Deana’s current research explores incivility, polarization, and extremism in individual claimsmaking around political controversies, including Supreme Court hearings and school shootings.