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Internet and Democratic Citizenship among the Global Mass Publics: Does Internet Use Increase Political Support for Democracy?*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2014

YOUNGHO CHO
YOUNGHO CHO*
Affiliation:
Hanyang University, South Koreayounghocho94@gmail.com
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Abstract

This study analyzed public opinion data for the 45 societies from the latest World Values Survey and found that Internet use promotes democratic support in democratic countries but not in authoritarian countries. In advanced democracies, democratic ideas and thoughts are freely produced and disseminated in cyberspace, and Internet users tend to absorb them. On the other hand, this online content is highly controlled by authoritarian governments in non-democratic settings, and Internet users are likely to be exposed to pro-government messages and entertainment, thereby nullifying the democratic utility of Internet use. These different social learning processes result in a global reinforcement effect of Internet use on democratic support. The results confirm that the Internet is a neutral technology and its effect depends on the political environment where it is used.

Type
Research Article
Information
Japanese Journal of Political Science , Volume 15 , Issue 4 , December 2014 , pp. 661 - 682
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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Footnotes

*

This research was supported by Social Science Korea program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2013S1A3A2055205).

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