Contemporary Challenges to Democratic Communication in Local Governance: Institutional Hollowing under Structural Decline
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Gabriele Vogt, LMU
Abstract
To ensure democratic legitimacy, several institutional mechanisms exist in the realm of communication at the local level, including government communication, local journalism, and institutionalized and non-institutionalized systems of civic engagement that have traditionally supported transparency, accountability, and public participation. However, local communication environments are undergoing profound structural changes. The decline of local journalism, the shrinking role of intermediary actors, the mediatization of the government and the growing influence of digital platforms and generative AI are transforming how local governments communicate with citizens and how democratic oversight is exercised.
This project thus investigates how these changes affect communication institutions and how organizational adaptations affect democratic values in Japanese local governance. Rather than assuming that democratic decline necessarily results from the dismantling of democratic institutions, this project examines how communication institutions may remain formally intact while their democratic functions are gradually hollowed out. The project focuses on contemporary developments such as politicians bypassing journalism, the strategic transformation of government communication, and emerging challenges to participatory institutions.
Situating Japan within broader international debates on democratic backsliding and institutional change, the study seeks to contribute to a comparative understanding of the role of communication in local democracy.