Contested Representations of Democracy in a Polarized Brazil: A Study of Symbolic Legitimation and Social Media Networks

Résumé

This study investigates the meaning-making processes surrounding the concept of democracy on Brazilian Twitter, through an integrated approach combining Social Representations Theory (SRT) and Social Network Analysis (SNA). We analyzed 1,508 tweets and retweets from 219 federal politicians, along with 332,624 retweets from the general public between August and September 2021, a period marked by widespread political mobilization and polarization. The results reveal two antagonistic representational systems of democracy: one rooted in institutional protection and social rights, and the other framed around popular sovereignty and distrust of traditional democratic institutions. Both sides symbolically legitimize their positions through appeals to “democracy,” often deploying the term to justify conflicting and, at times, anti-democratic actions. The study also demonstrates how digital platforms amplify political discourse and group identity through semantic cohesion and algorithmic visibility. By integrating SRT and SNA, we offer a methodological contribution to the psychosocial analysis of political communication, enabling a nuanced understanding of how representations of democracy are produced, circulated, and contested in networked publics.