In this episode we look at current threats to democracy and ask if the internet and social media have turned against democracy?  Joining us from Norway is Espen Geelmuyden Rød, who is a former researcher at our department. Espen has done research on the social and political causes of autocracy and democracy as well as the political impacts of digital information and communications technology.   

Sources mentioned:

The Struggle for Trust Online | Freedom House

Study on US democracy/oligarchy: Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens | Perspectives on Politics | Cambridge Core

Sample of Espen’s Research:

Empowering activists or autocrats? The Internet in authoritarian regimes

The Internet and Political Protest in Autocracies

The determinants of democracy: a sensitivity analysis