Title Democracy lives in darkness : how and why people keep their politics a secret / Emily Van Duyn

Published New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2022]

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Description 1 online resource : illustrations Series Jounalism and political communication unbound Contents Cover -- Half title -- Series -- Democracy Lives in Darkness -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- 1. Democracy in Darkness 1 -- The Buried Seeds 3 -- Political Context 5 -- Social Context 9 -- Geographic Context 10 -- Networked Silence 13 -- A New Schema 16 -- Plan of the Book 19 -- 2. Studying Political Secrecy 21 -- Studying Networked Silence in CWG 22 -- CWG and Community Composition 28 -- Studying Networked Silence in Texas and the United States 34 -- Analyzing the Data 35 -- Conclusion 37 -- 3. Forming a Secret Group 39 -- Group Development 40 -- Group Structure 47 -- Personal Development 62 -- Digital and Traditional Media 66 -- Conclusion 73 -- 4. Fearing the Other Side 75 -- Social Fear 77 -- Economic Fear 89 -- Physical Fear 97 -- Conclusion 104 -- 5. Negotiating Identity and Secrecy 107 -- Nonpartisanship vs. Democratic Affiliation 108 -- All Women vs. Mixed Gender 114 -- Talking to the Other Side vs. Talking to Each Other 125 -- Remaining Secret vs. Going Public 131 -- Conclusion 140 -- 6. Political Incubation and Infrastructure 143 -- Coming Out of the Political Closet 144 -- Covertly Fueling the Local Party 158 -- Revitalizing Party Leadership and Infrastructure 166 -- Conclusion 177 -- 7. 2020 179 -- COVID- 19 180 -- Racial Reckoning 186 -- The Road to 2020 189 -- Election Results 194 -- The Future of CWG 196 -- 8. Democracy through Darkness 199 -- How People Keep Their Politics a Secret 201 -- Why People Keep Their Politics a Secret 204 -- How to Look at Networked Silence 206 -- Why This Matters 208 -- Seeds, Not Sediment 213 -- Appendix A: Interviewee Pseudonyms And Interview Dates -- Appendix B: Cwg Meetings -- Appendix C: Survey Details -- Hiding Political Beliefs 219 -- Offline/ Online Secret Expression 219 -- Fear of Isolation 222 -- Demographics 221 -- Appendix D: Semi-​Structured Interview Guide 2017 -- Acknowledgments Self- Description, Identity, and 2016 Election 225 -- Opposition in the Community and in Relationships 225 -- Organization- Specific Questions 225 -- Appendix E: Semi-​Structured Interview Guide 2018 -- Self- Description, Identity, and 2018 Mid- Term Election 227 -- Organization- Specific Questions 227 -- Appendix F: Semi-​Structured Interview Guide 2020 -- Self- Description, Identity, and Community 229 -- Organization- Specific Questions 229 -- Reckoning with Racial Injustice 229 -- 2020 Election 229 -- COVID- 19 230Notes -- Notes -- References -- Index Summary "Republicans and Democrats increasingly distrust, avoid, and wish harm upon those from the other party. To make matters worse, they also increasingly reside among like-minded others and are part of social groups that share their political beliefs. All of this can make expressing a dissenting political opinion hard. Yet digital and social media have given people new spaces for political discourse and community, and more control over who knows their political beliefs and who does not. With Democracy Lives in Darkness, Van Duyn looks at what these changes in the political and media landscape mean for democracy. She uncovers and follows a secret political organization in rural Texas over the entire Trump presidency. The group, which organized out of fear of their conservative community in 2016, has a confidentiality agreement, an email listserv and secret Facebook group, and meets in secret every month. By building relationships with members, she explores how and why they hide their beliefs and what this does for their own political behavior and for their community. Drawing on research from communication, political science, and sociology along with survey data on secret political expression, she finds that polarization has led even average partisans to hide their political beliefs from others. And although intensifying polarization will likely make political secrecy more common, she argues that this secrecy is not just evidence that democracy is hurting, but that it is still alive; that people persist in the face of opposition and that this matters if democracy is to survive"-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on September 14, 2021) Subject Political sociology -- United States Mass media -- Political aspects -- United States Secret societies -- United States -- Political aspect Party affiliation -- United States Mass media -- Political aspects Party affiliation Political sociology Politics and government SUBJECT United States -- Politics and government. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140410 Subject United States Form Electronic book LC no. 2021029376 ISBN 9780197557037 0197557031 019755704X 9780197557051 0197557058 9780197557044

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