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Political Polarisation on Social Media: Competing Understandings of Democracy in Turkey

Author

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  • Didem Türkoğlu
  • Meltem Odabaş
  • Doruk Tunaoglu
  • Mustafa Yavaş

Abstract

Heightened political polarisation threatens democratic stability. While prior studies find polarisation in competing groups’ deployment of different terminologies to describe the same topic, we emphasise that it can also be evident in groups’ attachment of different meanings to the same terminology. Competition for dominance in the public sphere is reflected in social media which become sites of contestation, showcasing antagonistic claims of legitimacy. In a case-study of the June 2019 rerun Istanbul elections in Turkey, we used qualitative and computational methods to analyse approximately 116,000 tweets, focusing on discussions around the themes of ‘democracy’, ‘elections’, and ‘public service’. Twitter users associated the act of casting a vote not only with electing the candidate, but also with a competition over the future of Turkish democracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Didem Türkoğlu & Meltem Odabaş & Doruk Tunaoglu & Mustafa Yavaş, 2022. "Political Polarisation on Social Media: Competing Understandings of Democracy in Turkey," South European Society and Politics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(2), pages 223-251, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:fsesxx:v:27:y:2022:i:2:p:223-251
    DOI: 10.1080/13608746.2023.2200901
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