Broadcast media, ICT-generated public opinion and political accountability in Africa

The project's central research question is: To what extent is the citizen's participation in the media through the use of new ICT impacting mechanisms of political accountability, political control, inclusion of marginalized people and the quality of democratic electoral politics? Through a detailed comparative case study in Kenya and Zambia, the project's aim is to critically appraise the potential for new ICT to enhance political accountability and democratic politics for poor people. It puts the hybrid character of the use of information technologies at the centre of the research questions, taking into account interactions between different modes, venues and actors of information gathering and dissemination, which are particularly prominent in Africa and among the poorest people. It focuses on the expressions of 'public opinion' in broadcast media via new ICT such as mobile phones. The explosion in listener interactions with traditional broadcast media and media-driven 'public opinion' polling is remarkable yet under-studied. Research on ICT and democracy in developing countries has focused on the transformative potential of new digital platforms such as e-governance and social media for political mobilisation, participation and accountability. Far less attention is paid to hybrid and convergent technological developments, notably how new communication technologies are creating opportunities for citizens to make use of and inhabit other media such as radio, print and television. These hybrid uses are often more relevant for the poor, women, and the marginalised. Similarly, while equitable access and pro-poor ICT provision remain serious challenges, emerging challenges concern less the 'digital divide' than 'digital divisiveness': the promise of improved participatory politics and political accountability being undermined by the distortive capacity and manipulability of digital communications, politically oriented representations of 'what the people want' being presented as 'genuine' representations of 'public opinion'. There is need for a better evaluation of the potential of new ICT not only to improve the quality of democracy but to exacerbate the very inequalities, prejudices and tensions that already exist. Such knowledge is necessary for development actors to formulate appropriate theories and policies of governance change, based on the knowledge of exactly who is being empowered and who marginalised via the use of ICT. The project's analytical framework bridges policy, practice and evidence-based research, investigating four elements of the effects of new ICT on 'public opinion' making by African media: expressions of public opinion; their effects on citizenship practice and political belonging; the collection and representation of public opinion; and the reception of public opinion by politicianspolicy makers. Our empirical entry point for investigation is interactive programmes broadcasted on radio and TV and their use of text-ins, phone-ins and media-initiated SMS 'public opinion' polling. These are examined comparatively in the context of electoral politics and post-election legacies in Kenya and Zambia, with an eye on understanding developments across the continent. In Kenya and Zambia, social inequalities, based on gender, resources, ethnicity, rural/urban origin, education, have historically constrained access to citizenship and participation in politics, whether due to authoritarianism, discrimination, economic constraints or self-censorship. Elections, in particular, are key accountability episodes, when citizens are encouraged to make demands to candidates, who make promises and display their engagement to fulfil them: the dialogue between leaders and citizens seems enhanced. In that sense, elections are privileged moments when to interrogate how new channels and uses of citizen voice are being created, and with what legacy effects on political practice and accountability.