This thoroughly revised second edition Handbook examines the latest knowledge and perspectives on digital politics. Through new content on digital populism, filter bubbles, algorithmic power, AI, non-Western digital politics, election communication regulation and right-wing alternative news media, contributors challenge the binary of cyber-optimism and cyber-pessimism and argue for a more nuanced understanding of political change. Arranged around key themes, this Handbook investigates the meaning of digital politics and analyses the impact of new technologies and platforms on politics. Chapters consider the digital reconfiguration of civic practices, political institutions and journalism. Leading scholars provide original, incisive and provocative insights into cutting-edge issues, exploring how the expansion of digital technologies, channels and styles shapes political dynamics. Providing a broad and in-depth overview of digital politics, this Handbook will be an invaluable resource for researchers, educators and students of politics, media and communication studies, journalism, technology and governance. It will also be essential reading for political practitioners, policy-makers and strategists seeking to better understand the digital world.

How can we make sense of the current age of global political disruption when populism leaves norms overturned and the future form of democracy unpredictable? Political representatives are no longer elected for their experience and expertise but out of a desire for an ephemeral sense of authenticity, a direct connection to citizens, and the certainty of the truths they tell. But when populists project these ideas and claim to represent the citizenry, what is reality and what is strategic performance for the media? This conceptually rich book explores the performative strategies of the populist politicians who disrupt the normative order with acts of 'truth-telling'. It disentangles their complex use of media-from their appeal to news values through spectacular disruptions to sophisticated social media commentary-in repertoires of mediated performances. Based on vigorous empirical research in both established and transitional democracies, it develops a theoretical framework of populist communication in the new media environment.

How can we make sense of the current age of global political disruption when populism leaves norms overturned and the future form of democracy unpredictable? Political representatives are no longer elected for their experience and expertise but out of a desire for an ephemeral sense of authenticity, a direct connection to citizens, and the certainty of the truths they tell. But when populists project these ideas and claim to represent the citizenry, what is reality and what is strategic performance for the media? This conceptually rich book explores the performative strategies of the populist politicians who disrupt the normative order with acts of 'truth-telling'. It disentangles their complex use of media-from their appeal to news values through spectacular disruptions to sophisticated social media commentary-in repertoires of mediated performances. Based on vigorous empirical research in both established and transitional democracies, it develops a theoretical framework of populist communication in the new media environment.