DIGITAL POLITICS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES
Indonesia 
Lebanon Lebanon 
Abstract
Digital technologies have reshaped political participation by expanding access to information, public expression, mobilization, and communication with democratic institutions. This study aimed to examine how digital politics transforms the forms, intensity, and consequences of citizen participation across democratic societies. A comparative mixed-method design combined a cross-national survey of 1,200 respondents from Indonesia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States with 48 interviews, digital observation, institutional document analysis, and comparative case studies. The findings showed that digital platforms increased political information consumption, online expression, petitioning, and short-term mobilization more strongly than sustained organizational or institutional engagement. Political interest, digital competence, internal efficacy, participation diversity, and institutional responsiveness were positively associated with broader democratic involvement. Misinformation exposure and online hostility stimulated interaction while reducing trust, discouraging visible participation, and increasing selective withdrawal. The study concludes that digital politics functions as a conditional democratic resource rather than an inherently empowering force. Meaningful participation depends on citizens’ capabilities, transparent platform governance, diverse channels of engagement, and responsive institutions capable of converting digitally expressed demands into accountable political processes, sustained civic involvement, and legitimate public decisions across different democratic contexts and social groups, while protecting equality, deliberative quality, political safety, collective agency, and trust.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Arisman Sabir, Yara Abed, Ziad Khalil
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