In this episode, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy Kevin Esterling talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about digital democracy and echo chambers.

About Kevin Esterling:

Kevin Esterling is a Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, and the Director of the Laboratory for Technology, Communication, and Democracy (TeCD Lab), at the University of California, Riverside. His research focuses on institutional design for communication in democratic politics, and he has interests in Bayesian statistics, experimental design, and science ethics and validity. His current work focuses on deliberative democracy and the design of technology that leads citizens to engage constructively in public discourse.

Learn more about Kevin Esterling via https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/kevine

Podcast Highlights:

“The advantage is that we as individuals don't have to rely so much on intermediaries to express our concern to government.”

-       Kevin Esterling on the advantages of digital democracy. 

“If social media platforms just become a cesspool of misinformation and ideological content, at some people will find it less useful...”

-       Kevin Esterling on the topic of social media and echo chambers.

“Technology is neither good nor bad, it's just how it's designed and how it ends up getting used.”

-       Kevin Esterling pointing out the "gray area" that technology often falls into. 

Guest:

Kevin Esterling (Professor of Political Science and Public Policy)

Interviewers:

Kevin Karami (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Chief Ambassador)

Zeno Marganian (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador)

Music by:

C Codaine

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase

Commercial Links:

https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp

This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/

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