Date of Award
5-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Communication, Technology, and Society
Committee Chair/Advisor
Dr. James Gilmore
Committee Member
Dr. Brandon Boatwright
Committee Member
Dr. Andrew Pyle
Abstract
The realm of the digital public sphere remains an area of interest for scholarship concerned with the democratic project. Technology once promised an upward trajectory for democratic conversation and the transmission of ideas, yet the actualization of those technologies seemingly undermines the promises of a time passed. This thesis is concerned with social media, namely X (Twitter), as a realm for political engagement and the implications of digital discourse. I start by tracking deliberative democracy theory, as an ideal, and the practical functionalities of the theory outlined in the twenty-first century. For the process of deliberation to unfold, a healthy public sphere needs to be maintained; therefore, I track the evolution of the public sphere as outlined by Jurgen Habermas, the functionality of constitutive rhetoric, and the emergence of the digital public sphere. This is followed by an analysis of algorithms as inherently oppressive background operations of the digital public sphere, designed by individuals with inherent biases that present themselves in the information that information systems present to the users. These systems unfairly benefit politicians, bolstering their voices to the expense of individuals with less social capital. To ground this literature, my project seeks to understand how various members of the GOP construct their digital identity, specifically focusing on their rhetorical strategies during a primary season. Using Andre Brock’s Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis as the guiding methodology, this thesis pulls the data from Mike Pence, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, and Nikki Haley.
Recommended Citation
Nunley, William, "Deliberative Democracy, Political Strategy, and the GOP: A Habermasian Discourse Analysis Surrounding the Israel-Hamas War" (2024). All Theses. 4252.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/4252