Free Paper: How has Information Technology Changed the Political Process within the Past 5 Years?

Introduction

Technological advancement continues to transform the way people live by increasing connectivity, and adding quality, convenience, and comfort to people’s daily lifestyles. The advancement of technology tends to redefine many dimensions of society, such as politics. Through the support of technological accessories such as computers, smartphones, and tablets, political leaders and their political parties can efficiently converse and influence society to establish and enforce policies (Zheng, 2020). Despite politics having a big influence on contemporary society, it has been seen that the significant introduction of information technology has had a tremendous effect on numerous political affairs. The topic was selected to understand better how the political social system is being purposely damaged using big data to establish a new society of interest to predefined political factions. The advancement of information technology is a crucial component of society and even of the electoral process. Technology has contributed significantly to the political discourse over the last five years, moving from coffee tables to smartphones and social media platforms.

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Areas of Interest, Activity, or Issue

A way of communication

Most of political politicians and political parties are championing the use of technology to converse with their followers efficiently. The social media network is the most common approach to connectivity that technology promotes and continues to expand. As a means of communication technology, however, a substantial amount of support has been extended to how policymakers and politicians interact to gain approval from a certain intended populace. For instance, in their last two campaigns, the Obama administration used the power of the internet to send a clear message to a small number of voters to manipulate their choices (Williams, 2019). The Obama administration was able to recognize what the people wanted from his administration by analyzing the social media network, and they introduced it in such a manner that they got approval from the people. Thus, by using technology, political leaders can learn exactly how to communicate with their followers and organize other populations to endorse, embrace, and support them.

Technology as a Political Topic and Campaign Platform

More contentiously, most political aspirants and many political groups have strong standpoints on several policy issues related to technology, such as data protection and privacy. Most political leaders (and the general public) feel strongly about protecting people’s privacy rights. Another related issue is fair and equal technological accessibility (Stier, 2020). Even in some technologically advanced and developed countries such as the United States, many parts of the world lack access and connectivity to high-speed internet. This social inequality tends to create more inequity. Ultimately, another contentious political issue is the regulatory oversight of major tech corporations developing more influential and powerful. In March 2020, President Trump stopped the procurement of tech infrastructure giant Qualcomm by Broadcom, citing public safety and national security (Kübler, 2020). This was a hotly debated move, even to some political party associates, who considered such legislative steps harmful to economic growth.

Technology as a Tool for the Public

Politicians and political entities are not the only ones that embrace technology to redefine politics, but also many sectors have also embraced technology to enact various policies. The emergence of digital networks, notably social media, has created private citizens’ means to impact legislative activism on a level like never before. For example, during the Arab Spring of 2011, many observers largely attributed the taking down of political authoritarian leaders in the Middle East to the power of social media and messaging apps, such as WhatsApp, that enabled people to mobilize and distribute their message around the world instantly (Lindvall, 2017). Images of demonstrations and police violence from Facebook and Vine went viral and were aired on global media channels such as CNN and BBC. Technology influences politics for the better through a more hotly debated but efficient method: uncovering immoral or illegal behavior patterns of various political aspirants and leaders (Ohme, 2020). For example, the “trail” that digital technology leaves behind brought about the end of Anthony Weiner, once a glamorous star in the Democratic Party, who was partaking in improper conduct on Snapchat with a minor.

Research Findings

Technology has impacted politics by acting as a tool for political actors like politicians, government entities, and other corporations to better assess, interact with, and mobilize members of the general public to their purpose and televised political campaigning. Two of the most successful strategies for using technology as a tool include data collection and the utilization of digital media platforms. For instance, Barack Obama notably rose to the U.S. presidency in large part due to a transformative and unparalleled endeavor to gather detailed information about the demographic trends and voting patterns of key electorates all around the United States (Kübler, 2020). Data collection has long been a central component of electoral and information initiatives. Still, President Obama’s acquiescence took the state of data capture capabilities to the forefront of national interest.

In the subsequent decades, such oriented and precise data collection has become an important part of any advanced (and prosperous) political campaign. The data is used to build marketing strategies to distribute political messages, foster supporter relationships, seek more contributions, and locate and encourage potential voters to get to the ballots (Zheng, 2020). Along those same lines, another way that technology influences politics is more sophisticated: in setting up validity with certain voting blocks. For instance, Beto O’Rourke has developed a presidential bid around the unconventional use of social networking sites. O’Rourke believed that his extensive reliance on technology would align with young voters who frequently spend their time online (Min, 2019). He could post a video of himself feasting on local food at a campaign event or tweeting his feelings on the rigors of life on the street.

Technological advancements serve as a double-edged sword since they help individuals work and encourage destruction or damage by sinister actors. Although several hackers spend endless hours attempting to access personal or monetary data, more are committed to undermining the world of politics (Williams, 2019). For example, the cyberespionage institution, Anonymous, is committed to disclosing sensitive political and governmental documentation for society’s good. Along similar lines, the emergence of “fake news,” popularized during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election (Kübler, 2020). Fake news frequently uses sensationalized, deceitful, or explicitly concocted news stories to enhance readership. The internet has created an unprecedented dissemination outlet for fake news. Whenever one is surfing the internet and sees a ridiculous headline in a sidebar, they see sensationalist headlines, which are earning income from disseminating fake news.

Proposed Solution(S), Idea(S), Courses Of Action(S).

Information technology has positively and negatively impacted the ways politics are being undertaken in various countries worldwide. There is a need to formulate measures and policies that regulate these technologies’ application to the world’s politics. The Internet of Things (IoT) will compel people to reconsider what privacy implies. It is projected that there will be 20-30 billion devices and probably billions of internet-connected sensors by 2022 (Dylko, 2017). Within countries, people will require an open political discussion about what confidentiality and privacy are, what individuals expect their governments to safeguard, and businesses to respect. This privacy argument must go beyond the narrow limits of “national security” to achieve effective public and political buy-in. Philosophies of privacy should, therefore, also evolve to encapsulate human-machine interaction. That is, privacy should not just exist concerning one person or between a delineated subset of people, but also as a vital component of the relationship between a person and the equipment they use (Wagner, 2019). It will necessitate individuals to think linearly when they project into the future about the implications new technologies will have on politics. In the next five years, things related to politics worldwide will be more or less as different as today as compared to five years ago.

Conclusion

Conclusively, information technology and politics have always been closely linked, going as far back as the agricultural and industrial revolution eras, which spurred some of the most highly influential issues in American history, such as labor laws. But in recent decades, they have become quite inseparable. Politicians cannot participate in politics without partaking in emerging technologies, and one cannot use modern technologies without participating in the political process. People from different countries have positive viewpoints on information technology’s role in their lives, encouraging policymakers, politicians, and entities to integrate it effectively into their political campaigns and forums. For instance, the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election campaigns’ nominees have relied mainly on technology to reach their electorate in the current COVID-19 era. There is a need to apply various technological advancements effectively to improve the politics of any country worldwide.

References

Dylko, I., Dolgov, I., Hoffman, W., Eckhart, N., Molina, M., & Aaziz, O. (2017). The dark side of technology: An experimental investigation of the influence of customizability technology on online political selective exposure. Computers in Human Behavior, 73, 181-190.

Kübler, R., Pauwels, K., & Manke, K. (2020). How Social Media drove the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election: a longitudinal topic and platform analysis. Available at SSRN.

Lindvall, J. (2017). Technology and Politics: A Research Agenda. STANCE Working Paper Series, 2017(2), 1-17.

Min, H., & Kim, J. Y. (2019). Intelligent Information Technology and Democracy: Algorithm-driven Information Environment and Politics. Informatization Policy, 26(2), 81-95.

Ohme, J. (2020). Mobile but not mobilized? Differential gains from mobile news consumption for citizens’ political knowledge and campaign participation. Digital Journalism, 8(1), 103-125.

Stier, S., Bleier, A., Lietz, H., & Strohmaier, M. (2018). Election campaigning on social media: Politicians, audiences, and the mediation of political communication on Facebook and Twitter. Political communication, 35(1), 50-74.

Wagner, B., Kettemann, M. C., & Vieth, K. (Eds.). (2019). Research Handbook on Human Rights and Digital Technology: Global Politics, Law and International Relations. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Zheng, P., & Shahin, S. (2020). Live-Tweeting Live Debates: How Twitter Reflects and Refracts the U.S. Political Climate in a Campaign Season. Information, Communication & Society, 23(3), 337-357.

Williams, R. W. (2019). Politics and Self in the Age of Digital Re (producibility). Fast capitalism, 1(1).