Governing the Information Ecosystem: Southeast Asia's Fight Against Political Deceit. (3rd September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Goh, Shawn; Soon, Carol
• Is Part Of: Public integrity. Volume 21:Number 5(2019)
• Page Start: 523
• Page End: 536
• Publication Date: 2019-09-03
• Subjects: fake news -- disinformation -- governance -- Southeast Asia -- wicked problem; Civil service ethics -- United States -- Periodicals; Public administration -- Moral and ethical aspects -- United States -- Periodicals; Political ethics -- United States -- Periodicals; Civil service ethics -- Periodicals; Public administration -- Moral and ethical aspects -- Periodicals; Political ethics -- Periodicals; Civil service ethics; Political ethics; Public administration -- Moral and ethical aspects; United States; PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION; CIVIL SERVICE; MORAL ASPECTS; POLITICAL ETHICS; Periodicals; 172
• DOI: 10.1080/10999922.2019.1603046
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1099-9922

Abstract

Abstract : Political upheavals like the 2016 United States Presidential election have thrown political deceit into the global spotlight. Political deceit can cause varying degrees of harm—from exacerbating existing social fault lines to potentially undermining democratic processes and effective governance. Thus, governments around the world are responding seriously to combat the scourge. In Southeast Asia, governments have recognized the need to tackle the problem in collaboration with one another. By focusing on the developments in Southeast Asia and using a framework comprising four governance capabilities (viz., reflexivity; responsiveness; resilience; and revitalizing) to manage a wicked problem like political deceit, this article argues that a multistakeholder approach is more effective and sustainable in fighting political deceit than is a top-down government-centric one due to three reasons. First, with trust in institutions at a global lull, governments that face a trust deficit may see poor results if they rely solely on legislation or government-led fact checking. Second, the effectiveness of government interventions may be circumscribed by psychological biases that underpin how people process political deceit. Third, governments should partner with nonstate actors, who also play a critical role in tackling this wicked problem, and bring diverse stakeholders together to leverage collaborative advantage.