Entre o discurso e a prática: accountability e partidos políticos em ambientes digitais

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been transforming the political field, enabling actors, such as political parties, to act as content producers on the internet, influencing public perception of their actions. When using digital environments, they do not act neutrally but rather seek to legitimize themselves on specific issues. In this context, the present study aimed to understand how this dynamic involves accountability, analyzing how Brazilian on their websites, the forms of presentation and framing of the theme, and, on the social media platform X, the discursive strategies employed in constructing legitimacy around accountability. To achieve the proposed objectives, an analytical model focused on party websites was developed and applied to the ten parties with the greatest representation in the National Congress in 2024. The discursive strategies employed by each of these parties on legitimation theory. On party websites, greater emphasis was observed on the dissemination of formal information and internal organization (the dimensions of answerability and vertical top down accountability), whereas aspects related to internal enforcement, party finances (horizontal accountability), and effective citizen participation (bottom up accountability) were less addressed. The General Accountability Index (GAI) indicated that only PT and Republicanos achieved a medium level; PL, União, PDT, PSB, MDB, PSD, PSDB, and PP presented a low level, and none reached a high level, demonstrating that communication about accountability on party websites remains limited. On social media, the most frequently used legitimation strategy was rationalization (38.1%), followed by mythopoesis (25.1%), authorization (22.8%), and moral evaluation (13.9%), being employed more for selflegitimation (69.3%) than to delegitimize other actors. The analysis revealed distinct uses of accountability: transparency and responsibility predominate as values of institutional selfaffirmation, whereas reporting, punishment, and justification appear only occasionally. Overall, accountability is explored in terms of institutional and legal legitimation, complemented by symbolic narratives and moral values, illustrating its use as a discursive resource of power and legitimation in the political field. The study is justified in proposing an innovative approach to accountability, analyzing it beyond its institutional aspect of reporting, considering it as a discursive and symbolic practice developed in digital environments. By articulating technology, accountability entations that their actions are effectively accountable, even though the institutional practice of accountability in Brazil still presents limitations. This study presents an original theoretical-analytical egitimation by systematizing linguisticallygrounded resources empirically identified in party political discourse on the social media platform X, thereby extending the applicability of the model to the analysis of political communication in digital contexts. It also contributes to understanding contemporary Brazilian democracy by integrating party activity, discourse, and the strategic use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), broadening the debate on political legitimation and accountability.