Sintaxis

Carta de la Directora del Centro de Investigación para la Comunicación Aplicada

Rebeca-Illiana Arévalo-Martínez — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0500

El término democracia es utilizado de manera general para referirse casi a cualquier tipo de política. Esta situación, al menos en occidente, genera que las muy diversas acepciones que puede tener el término, las condiciones para poder determinar que se trata de una democracia y la participación que tienen los distintos actores para generarla, resultan en acciones que apuntan a distintas direcciones, con objetivos y alcances también muy distintos. En este sentido, organismos internacionales como la OCDE, se han dado a la tarea de realizar estudios y generar datos que permitan conocer el estado de la democracia en los países que la integran. Destacan sus estudios sobre la confianza de los ciudadanos, al considerar que este es uno de los principales factores para fortalecer la democracia. La confianza es entendida en este contexto como las expectativas que se tienen de que la institución gubernamental actuará de manera positiva y de la forma esperada (OCDE, 2017). Esta confianza se mide particularmente sobre la base de lo que los ciudadanos creen que el gobierno puede proporcionarles en cuanto a servicios públicos; la satisfacción con los servicios administrativos; la capacidad de respuesta que tienen hacia sus demandas; la integridad del gobierno; la representatividad de la población en términos de diversidad e inclusión; y las prioridades que otorgan a los desafíos globales como son el combate a la desinformación y el cambio climático, entre otros (OCDE, 2022).

En este sentido, la comunicación resulta fundamental para establecer los parámetros éticos y profesionales que resuelvan los problemas que están condicionando a la democracia, al mismo tiempo que para proponer soluciones que aporten caminos para la justicia, el bien común y la transformación social desde la confianza como factor indispensable en todo proceso comunicativo. El derecho de toda persona a elegir en libertad el rumbo del Estado con base en la información, el diálogo y la reflexión está transversalmente determinado por distintos procesos comunicativos como los autores de este número nos permiten ver. Sea este espacio un lugar para motivar al pensamiento crítico y propositivo sobre la comunicación que permite enfrentar las paradojas de la democracia en nuestra región latinoamericana.

Carta de los Editores

Rebeca-Illiana Arévalo-Martínez, Rogelio Del Prado Flores; Alberto Ruiz-Méndez — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Desde la irrupción de la tecnología digital hasta la llegada de la inteligencia artificial, los medios de comunicación han ejercido una influencia paradójica en nuestras vidas. Si bien han contribuido a visibilizar injusticias e incluso han sido plataformas para la creación de movimientos sociales globales, también es verdad que sus efectos en nuestros procesos de aprendizaje y convivencia social se han visto afectados por su dinámica vertiginosa que nos aleja del diálogo y la reflexión.

La democracia no se ha escapado a esta dinámica paradójica. Aunque sus orígenes se remontan al siglo V a. C., nuestro actual modelo moderno democrático se afianza a partir de 1945 con el fin de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, es decir, es un modelo con menos de cien años de vida política. Si bien Estados Unidos e Inglaterra pueden considerarse democracias desde finales del siglo XIX, los pilares sobre los que se sustenta esta forma de gobierno —sufragio universal, separación de poderes y estado de derecho—, no se consolidaron hasta mediados del siglo xx dándole la fisonomía que ahora conocemos.

The hidden use of information and communication technologies in citizen participation in the open parliament

José Alberto Rodríguez Robledo, Julio César r Contreras Manrique — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Low confidence in legislative organizations in Mexico is part of a democratic recession in Latin American countries. Given this, open parliament emerges as a set of principles that operates through information and communication technologies (ICT) and promotes citizen participation. However, it is proposed that legislative organizations use ICT to inhibit citizen participation. Indications of this inhibitory use were identified in the case of public hearings on the National Guard held in the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico. A descriptive and exploratory qualitative methodology was used. Document review and content analysis techniques were used. The main finding is that the inhibition of citizen participation occurs through the selective, controlling, and negligent use of ICT.

When machines dream for us. Democracy in the world of algorithmic capitalism: case study of Cambridge Analytica

Abraham González Montaño — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Algorithmic capitalism and its suggestive behavior has impacted all spheres of life, including politics, by propagating a main objective: to intimately know the users of social networks by massive extraction of data and its consequent algorithmic processing, with the intention not just to predict future behavior scenarios, but to build synthetic atmospheres which people could be suggested and intervened to vote for a specific candidate, to reproduce a particular idea within an electoral contest and even to change their worldviews and political understanding. All this situation develops in a context where the picture of the other is replaced by the algorithmic image of itself, and at the same time, has the effect of suppressing plurality as a fundamental element of democracy as a lifestyle.

Update on the concept of the digital divide in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: towards a qualitative proposal

Luis Josué Lugo, Miguel Ángel Barrera Rojas — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0500

This document aims to advance the understanding of the participation gap through a qualitative approach, supported by a rigorous documentary review, the development of a state-of-the-art, and theoretical reflection on several concepts, including cognitive capitalism (Correa, 2012; Zuckerfeld, 2011; Rullani, Boutang, Lazzarato, 2004), the Information Society (Castells, 1997; Crovi, 2014; Alva, 2015; Delors, 1993; Mattelart, 2001), and the participation gap (Norris, 2001). This research updates the initial debate presented at a congress of the Mexican Association of Communication Researchers (Lugo, 2019) and is part of the Permanent International Seminar on Artificial Intelligence in the Social Sciences (SIPIACSO). We believe it will provide insights into the challenges of bridging this gap, which is crucial for experiencing Generative Artificial Intelligence. From there, we consider it from its public level, as an effective tool for participation. While proposing various points of analysis for subsequent studies derived from the state of the art, such as the responsibility gap (Santoni and Mecacci, 2021), the second part of this research will be outlined through the use of playful reflective workshops (Lugo, 2020). This phase will employ qualitative methods (Orozco and González, 2015) and will utilize techniques such as observation (Lugo, 2019), semi-structured interviews (Vela, 2001), and social network analysis for the study of specific cases. It is worth mentioning that this is based on an initial exercise we conducted in 2023 (Lugo, 2023).

The rise of referendums: a challenge in terms of democratic communication

Rubén R. García Clarck — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0500

It is based on the notorious fact of the increase in the holding of referendums worldwide. Given that the rise of referendums has been observed as a risk for representative democracy, the debate on this concept is addressed in comparison with those of direct, participatory and referendum democracy. Additionally, the disadvantages of this last modality of democracy compared to representative democracy are exposed, as well as the approaches of some international reports on the misinformation and polarization that have accompanied the holding of referendums. Finally, a broad democratic communication exercise prior to the holding of the referendums is proposed as one of the alternatives to this problem.

Time of polarization: a look at the crisis of democracy through populist political communication

Alberto Ruiz-Méndez — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0500

This article aims to offer a perspective of the current crisis of democracy based on the analysis of the political discourse of institutionalized populism or populism in power. When analyzing this form of political communication, from a performative approach, it is argued that one cause of the current democratic crisis is affective polarization, that is, a form of social fragmentation based not on political differences but on an identity border, whose main component is the figure of an enemy who is stripped of his legitimacy to participate in the collective decision-making that characterizes a modern democracy. The construction of this enemy, by institutionalized populism, is presented as a performative signifier, that is, as a discursive element with which a political action is carried out, in this case, the creation of a time of polarization that provokes a democratic crisis understood as a closure of the constant search to expand freedoms and rights.

Citizenship and democracy

Alejandro Roberto Alba Meraz — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Being a citizen and unambiguously determining the mechanisms for obtaining citizenship can be considered essential achievements of contemporary political life in the West. This notion is, likewise, observed as an idealized creation in which the relationships between rulers and the governed function following rules that equalize the opportunities of citizens, favoring an interaction that guarantees equal treatment between the participants of a political community in which Everyone counts to make decisions and freely exercise their right to intervene in government functions. In recent decades, however, such an idea of citizenship has begun to be called into question. This work presents an exploratory study of the hegemonic conception of democratic citizenship through a genealogical review, the reasons that made its configuration possible are analyzed, as well as the criticisms that announce its debacle. Two alternative paths that challenge the canonical concept are also explored, which arise as responses to the stated crisis. Finally, some emerging forms of citizenship are realized that illustrate the complex evolution of the concept and force us to continue rethinking it in a Latin American key.

The challenge of democracy: participation and education

Yossadara Franco Luna — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0500

The text analyzes the democratic crisis from two areas. First, the lack of political participation and, second, the lack of training of citizens. The above is derived from the foundation of liberalism: freedom as non-interference that allows the citizen to be constrained to be only a voter, displacing him from the public sphere. An issue that, if we continue in this situation, will allow the common good to be delegated—in the hands of a minority. In that sense, a type of citizen training from a classical ethical approach becomes necessary. In this sense, the objective is to show that a training that is based on an important level of ethical order traces the path of civic virtue for the greatest and best deployment of democracy and, therefore, for the authentic care of freedom.

What are the ways? for a critique of violence as a means in civil disobedience

Carlos Eduardo de Tavira Leveroni — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0500

In studies on civil disobedience, the use of violence as a means of protest has been one of the unresolved issues. This is partly due to the lack of ethical-political criteria that delimit the proper understanding of violence. This article provides a path to comprehend violence in a way that is confined to the discussion about the participation of dissident citizenship in democratic contexts. The contributions of both classical and contemporary literature are reviewed, and ultimately, the principle of human dignity is emphasized as a determining factor for the civility of protest actions.

The hyperconnectivity of food journalists in Spanish media

María Yanet Acosta Meneses, Francesc Fusté-Forné — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0500

The period of confinement, due to Covid-19 pandemic, was an experience of hyperconnectivity for food journalism professionals in Spain. In this article, we study the cases of two sections specialized in food journalism and linked to two relevant media outlets in Spain such as Ser Gastro and Comer La Vanguardia. Based on a qualitative study, we interview their managers and we carry out a content analysis of their social networks before and after the lockdown. Results show the differences and similarities between the initiatives of the gastronomic sections analyzed, with an innovative presence of direct broadcasts on social networks that, after the pandemic, become other formats such as podcasts and with local content that brings users closer to gastronomy from hyperconnectivity. Results also show the versatility of the food journalist and the capacity for hyperconnectivity at a time of crisis such as the confinement and how the return to “normal”, after the end of the pandemic, reduces multiplatform initiatives due to lack of resources, but not the role of digital media and the importance of the human component in food journalism.