Movie stars, music stars and other popular entertainers' involvement in the political process augments the degree to which politicians need to catch media attention to promote their policies.
For instance, Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign was fraught with celebrity endorsement. His most noteworthy supporter was Oprah Winfrey, who joined him on the campaign trail. Some scholars propose that her endorsement to have been worth just over 1 million votes for Obama. [1] Obama also shared platforms with Leonardo di Caprio and Bruce Springsteen, amongst others. This is believed to have contributed to the formation of a grassroots campaign supporting Obama, who, as a result, reaped the benefits of an increased voter turnout amongst hard-to-reach voters. But it is unjust for celebrities to use their influence in this way. Some celebrities do have …show more content…
The negative impacts on our democratic process are two-fold: first, voters being less informed means they are less likely to be truly voting in a way that is in line with their interests or most preferred political beliefs; second, the debate is easily directed towards ideas that can be conveyed away from ideas that require more complicated discussion. This has been argued that this "celebrification" or "trivialization" of politics does little for the serious discussion of policy. Some voices have argued that the shift to a celebrity-driven activism depicts a fundamental shift of power in the US, which reflects a simulated system of government; the media serve as a means for real democracy to be replaced by a simulated one. The researchers explained that the media deploy celebrities to simulate the public's political consent. The American culture is becoming more accepting of celebrity political agendas. People often rely on celebrities in part to help them become politically
For instance, Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign was fraught with celebrity endorsement. His most noteworthy supporter was Oprah Winfrey, who joined him on the campaign trail. Some scholars propose that her endorsement to have been worth just over 1 million votes for Obama. [1] Obama also shared platforms with Leonardo di Caprio and Bruce Springsteen, amongst others. This is believed to have contributed to the formation of a grassroots campaign supporting Obama, who, as a result, reaped the benefits of an increased voter turnout amongst hard-to-reach voters. But it is unjust for celebrities to use their influence in this way. Some celebrities do have …show more content…
The negative impacts on our democratic process are two-fold: first, voters being less informed means they are less likely to be truly voting in a way that is in line with their interests or most preferred political beliefs; second, the debate is easily directed towards ideas that can be conveyed away from ideas that require more complicated discussion. This has been argued that this "celebrification" or "trivialization" of politics does little for the serious discussion of policy. Some voices have argued that the shift to a celebrity-driven activism depicts a fundamental shift of power in the US, which reflects a simulated system of government; the media serve as a means for real democracy to be replaced by a simulated one. The researchers explained that the media deploy celebrities to simulate the public's political consent. The American culture is becoming more accepting of celebrity political agendas. People often rely on celebrities in part to help them become politically