社交媒体时代美国民粹主义“新形态”的形成及启示

The New Form of American Populism in the Social Media Era:Its Forming and Implications

特朗普在2016年当选美国总统,且在2020年仍获近半数普选票,标志着美国民粹主义结合社交媒体,在美国政坛内形成了一股举足轻重的力量。新任美国总统拜登在2020年的竞选过程也不乏民粹主义和社交媒体要素,佐证了这股力量的深远影响力。美国民粹主义在社交媒体传播环境下发生的变化及其影响,对把握美国政治的现状和走势兼有理论和现实意义。在美国现行政治制度下,社交媒体引起“公共领域”阶级下移,增强了民粹主义受众群体的政治影响;拥有去中心的定位和传播结构,有利于反建制派表达诉求;具有高度互动性,能够承载民粹主义式的直接民主;形成了部落化的受众环境,有利于魅力型领袖从事游说和动员。社交媒体呈现出在美国政治生态中制度化的趋势,民粹主义因此拥有了长期有利的传播环境,这使其转变为长期延续和跨党派蔓延的“新形态”。社交媒体时代美国民粹主义“新形态”对美国内政外交均表现出可观影响,使其成为谋划中美关系前景需要考虑的因素。

Populism combined with social media is marked as a significant political force in U.S.by Donald Trump's election victory in 2016,his winning close to half of the popular votes in 2020,and the fact that Joe Biden's campaign in 2020 also adopted elements of populism and social media.It begs questions both theoretically important and realistically relevant:what becomes of American populism in the social media era and what are the subsequent effects?Within the current U.S.political ecology,social media open up the public sphere to lower social classes who are typical targets of populism,and amplify their political weight.Social media are decentralized,hence a desirable platform for propagating anti-establishment ideas.Social media enable users to directly interact with each other;they weaken intermediate institutions such as parties and mainstream media,and can even serve as a carrier for direct democracy.Social media enhance tribalization,making it easier for charismatic political leaders to persuade and mobilize the crowd by spreading alternative truths and appealing to emotions.With social media institutionalizing,populism gets a favorable long-term environment.In this way,populism is prolonged and spreads among political branches,acquiring a“new form”.American populism,now in its new form,shows considerable influence on U.S.domestic politics and foreign policies.It thus should be factored in the prospects of Sino-U.S.relations.