Authoritarian and Populist Influences in the New Media

Sai Felicia Krishna-Hensel is Director of the Interdisciplinary Global Studies Initiative at Auburn Montgomery, USA.

• Introduction 1 Discursive Strategies and Political Hegemony in Turkish Politics: the Justice and Development Party’s #yedirmeyecegiz vs. #OccupyGezi2 The Democratic Peak of the Authoritarian Swing: Post-Revolutionary Egypt’s Politics, Media, And Public3 A Case Study of the Media Coverage of Populism and Neo-populism: The 2009 and 2014 Presidential Elections in Romania 4 Transformation of Media Sector From Above and its Implications for the Freedom of Media in Turkey 5 Politics of Publicity: Contextualizing Liberalized Media in Pakistan and its Illiberal Predicament6 Legitimizing the Caliphate and its politics : Moral Disengagement Rhetoric in Dabiq 7 Small, Stable, Authoritarian? Assessing Eritrea’s Consistency in Abusing Media FreedomConclusion

"The seven studies that comprise this pathbreaking volume provide valuable insight into the role of social media in the changing communication environment in post-authoritarian societies. They provide a wide-ranging assessment of the reactions of governments, non-state actors and the public to the new technologies and their attempts to expand the reach of their message and to assess its effectiveness." - Roger E. Kanet, University of Miami, USA."All of the contributions to this stimulating volume engage in distinct ways with the importance and the challenges posed by the changing media technologies, as well as, the emersion and affirmation of social media in emerging and transitional democracies. The wide scope of the essays, the diversity of theoretical perspectives and the variety of methodological tools employed, open rich possibilities in the evolving field of the (new) media performance’s vulnerability to political control during transition phases." - Rui Alexandre Novais, University of Mindelo, Cape Verde.