Post-truth politics

Post-truth politics (which some commentators prefer to call post-factual politics^[1] or post-reality politics^[2]), amidst varying academic and dictionary definitions of the term, refer to a recent historical period where political culture is marked by public anxiety about what claims can be publicly accepted facts.^[3]^[4]^[5] It suggests that the public (not scientific or philosophical) distinction between truth and falsity—as well as honesty and lying—have become a focal concern of public life, and are viewed by popular commentators and academic researchers alike as having a consequential role in how politics operates in the early 21st century. It is regarded as especially being influenced by the arrival of new communication and media technologies.^[6]^[4]^[7] Popularized as a term in news media and a dictionary definition, post-truth has developed from a short-hand label for the abundance and influence of misleading or false political claims into a concept empirically studied and theorized by academic research. Oxford Dictionaries declared that its international word of the year in 2016 was "post-truth", citing a 20-fold increase in usage compared to 2015, and noted that it was commonly associated with the noun "post-truth politics".^[8]

Since post-truth politics are primarily known through public truth statements in specific media contexts (such as commentary on major broadcasting networks, podcasts, YouTube videos, and social media), it is especially studied as a media and communication studies phenomenon with particular forms of truth-telling, including intentional rumors, lies, conspiracy theories, and fake news.^[4]^[7]^[9]^[6] In the context of media and politics, it often involves the manipulation of information or the spread of misinformation to shape public perceptions and advance political agendas. Deceptive communication, "[d]isinformation, rumor bombs, and fake news have mass communication era antecedents in both war and security (gray propaganda) and commercial communication (advertising and public relations). All can be said to be forms of strategic communication and not mere accidental or innocent misstatements of facts." Deceptive political communication is timeless.^[10] However, distrust in major social institutions, political parties, government, news media, and social media, along with the fact that anyone today can create and circulate content that has generic characteristics of news (fake news) creates the conditions for post-truth politics.^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14] Distrust is also politically polarized, where those identifying with one political party dislike and don't trust those of another. Distrust becomes the bearer of post-truth politics, since citizens cannot first-hand verify claims about things happening in the world and don't usually have expert knowledge about subjects being reported factually; they are faced with the choice of trusting news providers and other public truth-tellers. For this reason, some scholars have argued that post-truth does not at all refer to a sense that facts are irrelevant but to a public anxiety about the status of publicly accepted facts on which democracy can function.^[15]^[3]

As of 2018^[update], political commentators and academic researchers have identified post-truth politics as ascendant in many nations, notably Australia, Brazil, India, Ghana, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, among others. In Ghana, Coker and Afriyie delved into the prevalence of post-truth politics in the Ghanaian context, with a specific focus on publications in print newspapers affiliated with the country's major political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). The authors highlighted that post-truth practices have become ingrained in the fabric of election campaigns and political discourse in sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana. Their research aimed to dissect the post-truth strategies employed by Ghanaian politicians affiliated with these two prominent parties, as manifested in their respective politically aligned newspapers, namely, The Daily Statesman and The Enquirer. Coker and Afriyie identified three distinct strategies within this context, which they labeled as kairos, disinformation/misinformation, and the deliberate transmission of strategic falsehoods. These strategies were found to be actively shaping political narratives and public perceptions.

^ Schwartz, Ian (28 November 2016). "George Will: "Post-Factual Politics" From Campaign Still Exists, Nixon More of a Statesman Than Current Leadership". RealClearPolitics.com. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
^ Holmes, Jack (26 September 2016). "Trump's Campaign Manager Offered Her Most Brilliant Defense Yet of Trump's Lies". Esquire. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
^ ^a ^b Harsin, Jayson (29 December 2023). Re-thinking Mediations of Post-truth Politics and Trust: Globality, Culture, Affect. Taylor & Francis. pp. 1–33. ISBN 978-1-003-83593-6.
^ ^a ^b ^c Harsin, Jayson (20 December 2018). "Post-Truth and Critical Communication Studies". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.757. ISBN 978-0-19-022861-3. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
^ Farkas, Johan; Schou, Jannick (23 August 2019). Post-Truth, Fake News and Democracy: Mapping the Politics of Falsehood. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-50728-7.
^ ^a ^b Kalpokas, Ignas (2018). A political theory of post-truth. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-97713-3. OCLC 1048428960.
^ ^a ^b Cosentino, Gabriele (2020). Social media and the post-truth world order: the global dynamics of disinformation. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-030-43005-4. OCLC 1145550288.
^ Flood, Alison (15 November 2016). "'Post-truth' named word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
^ Harsin, Jayson (24 February 2015). "Regimes of Posttruth, Postpolitics, and Attention Economies". Communication, Culture & Critique. 8 (2): 327–333. doi:10.1111/cccr.12097. ISSN 1753-9129.
^ Hesk, Jon (23 November 2000). Deception and Democracy in Classical Athens. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-42958-0.
^ "2023 Edelman Trust Barometer". Edelman. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
^ Center, Pew Research (19 September 2023). "Public Trust in Government: 1958-2023". Pew Research Center - U.S. Politics & Policy. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
^ Liedke, Jacob; Gottfried, Jeffrey (27 October 2022). "U.S. adults under 30 now trust information from social media almost as much as from national news outlets". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
^ "Trust in institutions continues to fall in EU, despite declining unemployment and phasing out of pandemic restrictions | European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions". www.eurofound.europa.eu. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
^ Bedorf, Thomas; Herrmann, Steffen K., eds. (2020). Political phenomenology: experience, ontology, episteme. Routledge research in phenomenology. New York London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-0-429-25985-2.

[Schwartz-1] Schwartz, Ian (28 November 2016). "George Will: "Post-Factual Politics" From Campaign Still Exists, Nixon More of a Statesman Than Current Leadership". RealClearPolitics.com. Retrieved 8 November 2017.

[Holmes-2] Holmes, Jack (26 September 2016). "Trump's Campaign Manager Offered Her Most Brilliant Defense Yet of Trump's Lies". Esquire. Retrieved 8 November 2017.

[:9-3] Harsin, Jayson (29 December 2023). Re-thinking Mediations of Post-truth Politics and Trust: Globality, Culture, Affect. Taylor & Francis. pp. 1–33. ISBN 978-1-003-83593-6.

[:0-4] Harsin, Jayson (20 December 2018). "Post-Truth and Critical Communication Studies". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.757. ISBN 978-0-19-022861-3. Retrieved 15 November 2021.

[5] Farkas, Johan; Schou, Jannick (23 August 2019). Post-Truth, Fake News and Democracy: Mapping the Politics of Falsehood. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-50728-7.

[:2-6] Kalpokas, Ignas (2018). A political theory of post-truth. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-97713-3. OCLC 1048428960.

[:3-7] Cosentino, Gabriele (2020). Social media and the post-truth world order: the global dynamics of disinformation. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-030-43005-4. OCLC 1145550288.

[wordofyear-8] Flood, Alison (15 November 2016). "'Post-truth' named word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2016.

[:10-9] Harsin, Jayson (24 February 2015). "Regimes of Posttruth, Postpolitics, and Attention Economies". Communication, Culture & Critique. 8 (2): 327–333. doi:10.1111/cccr.12097. ISSN 1753-9129.

[10] Hesk, Jon (23 November 2000). Deception and Democracy in Classical Athens. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-42958-0.

[11] "2023 Edelman Trust Barometer". Edelman. Retrieved 13 January 2024.

[12] Center, Pew Research (19 September 2023). "Public Trust in Government: 1958-2023". Pew Research Center - U.S. Politics & Policy. Retrieved 13 January 2024.

[13] Liedke, Jacob; Gottfried, Jeffrey (27 October 2022). "U.S. adults under 30 now trust information from social media almost as much as from national news outlets". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 13 January 2024.

[14] "Trust in institutions continues to fall in EU, despite declining unemployment and phasing out of pandemic restrictions | European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions". www.eurofound.europa.eu. Retrieved 13 January 2024.

[15] Bedorf, Thomas; Herrmann, Steffen K., eds. (2020). Political phenomenology: experience, ontology, episteme. Routledge research in phenomenology. New York London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-0-429-25985-2.

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