#Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media

Abstract

Although political polarization in the United States has been known and discussed for a long time, the dramatic unfolding of the presidential election last year still appalled many citizens. The election, believed to be the most divided one in recent U.S. history, highlighted the underestimated ability of social media to reinforce echo chambers and polarize publics. In this sense, Sunstein's new book—#Republic—is extremely relevant to the current political environment. In this book, Sunstein argues that the ideal of consumer sovereignty in a communication system, represented by the algorithm-driven news personalization on Facebook and Twitter, denoted by countless speech niches, and prophesied by the Daily Me, can exacerbate citizen self-insulation, create social fragmentation, promote ideological extremism, corrode democratic self-government, and ultimately reduce individual freedom. Sunstein calls for the Internet to become a general interest intermediary—like public forums that bridge contradicting opinions and ensure a commonality of experience among citizens. Sunstein contends that it is possible to design government regulation and policy interventions that can rein in the perverse effects of digital technologies without necessarily restricting free speech.