Eine Plattform für die Wissenschaft: Bauingenieurwesen, Architektur und Urbanistik
Eine Plattform für die Wissenschaft: Bauingenieurwesen, Architektur und Urbanistik
Populism, post-truth politics and the failure to deceive the public in Uganda's energy debate
Using populist tactics to frame energy transitions is neither new nor a predominantly Western phenomenon. In sub-Saharan Africa, populist leaders have long dispensed energy endowments for political gains. This paper studies populism and energy in Uganda, a highly energy-deprived country. Fact-checking recent governmental speeches and policies reveals a hefty presence of post-truth politics in Uganda's energy sector. President Yoweri Museveni's attempt to highlight developmental achievements have informed overly optimistic depictions of electricity planning, generation, transmission, distribution and pricing. We argue that the success of post-truth politics as a populist instrument may depend on the public's ability to easily falsify the respective claims. While populist narratives have generally helped to legitimise Museveni's leadership, our novel household survey data suggest that they have failed to mask the observable reality of poor governmental electrification performance. Respondents held sceptical opinions of electrification achievements, infrastructure status and the attribution of high electricity tariffs. Over 80% did not believe in the truthfulness of Uganda's energy debate, a result robust to different age, gender, residential, educational and income levels. This well-informed Ugandan public, paired with a growing international presence and global development goals pose unprecedented pressures on Uganda's government to eventually deliver factual, large-scale electrification.
Populism, post-truth politics and the failure to deceive the public in Uganda's energy debate
Using populist tactics to frame energy transitions is neither new nor a predominantly Western phenomenon. In sub-Saharan Africa, populist leaders have long dispensed energy endowments for political gains. This paper studies populism and energy in Uganda, a highly energy-deprived country. Fact-checking recent governmental speeches and policies reveals a hefty presence of post-truth politics in Uganda's energy sector. President Yoweri Museveni's attempt to highlight developmental achievements have informed overly optimistic depictions of electricity planning, generation, transmission, distribution and pricing. We argue that the success of post-truth politics as a populist instrument may depend on the public's ability to easily falsify the respective claims. While populist narratives have generally helped to legitimise Museveni's leadership, our novel household survey data suggest that they have failed to mask the observable reality of poor governmental electrification performance. Respondents held sceptical opinions of electrification achievements, infrastructure status and the attribution of high electricity tariffs. Over 80% did not believe in the truthfulness of Uganda's energy debate, a result robust to different age, gender, residential, educational and income levels. This well-informed Ugandan public, paired with a growing international presence and global development goals pose unprecedented pressures on Uganda's government to eventually deliver factual, large-scale electrification.
Populism, post-truth politics and the failure to deceive the public in Uganda's energy debate
Trotter, Philipp A. (Autor:in) / Maconachie, Roy (Autor:in)
30.09.2018
Trotter , P A & Maconachie , R 2018 , ' Populism, post-truth politics and the failure to deceive the public in Uganda's energy debate ' , Energy Research and Social Science , vol. 43 , pp. 61-76 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2018.05.020
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/affordable_and_clean_energy , /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2100/2105 , Energy poverty , Sub-Saharan Africa , name=Renewable Energy , Sustainability and the Environment , /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3301 , /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2100/2102 , /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2100/2103 , /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2100/2104 , name=Social Sciences (miscellaneous) , Post-truth politics , name=Fuel Technology , name=Energy Engineering and Power Technology , Energy transition , name=SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy , name=Nuclear Energy and Engineering
DDC:
690
Success factors for implementing Uganda’s public road construction projects
| Taylor & Francis Verlag | 2021
lifestyle : When looks deceive
| Online Contents | 2010
Uganda's water sector information system
| British Library Conference Proceedings | 2001
'Filling the middle': Uganda's appropriate transport services
| Taylor & Francis Verlag | 2003