TY - JOUR
T1 - Empirical support for the media participation hypothesis
T2 - Trends across presidential elections, 1992–2012
AU - Bucy, Erik P.
AU - Groshek, Jacob
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017.
PY - 2018/5/1
Y1 - 2018/5/1
N2 - This study empirically examines the media participation hypothesis advanced by Bucy, analyzing the influence of traditional and participatory media use across six US presidential elections. Multivariate analyses of American National Elections Study data demonstrate that as participatory media become more prevalent and utilized in an electoral system, corresponding and statistically significant increases in political system efficacy—the perception of governmental responsiveness—can be observed among the heaviest users of participatory media. Enhanced engagement with interactive media in combination with traditional media also translates into more positive assessments of democratic processes than use of traditional media alone. At the same time, increased engagement with participatory media shows a weak and negative association with political trust. Findings for the study uphold the basic tenets of the hypothesis, suggesting the framework provides a useful lens for understanding the tightening relationship between citizenship, use of communication technology, and democratic processes.
AB - This study empirically examines the media participation hypothesis advanced by Bucy, analyzing the influence of traditional and participatory media use across six US presidential elections. Multivariate analyses of American National Elections Study data demonstrate that as participatory media become more prevalent and utilized in an electoral system, corresponding and statistically significant increases in political system efficacy—the perception of governmental responsiveness—can be observed among the heaviest users of participatory media. Enhanced engagement with interactive media in combination with traditional media also translates into more positive assessments of democratic processes than use of traditional media alone. At the same time, increased engagement with participatory media shows a weak and negative association with political trust. Findings for the study uphold the basic tenets of the hypothesis, suggesting the framework provides a useful lens for understanding the tightening relationship between citizenship, use of communication technology, and democratic processes.
KW - Interactive media
KW - media participation
KW - perceived governmental responsiveness
KW - political interactivity
KW - political system efficacy
KW - political trust
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046815384&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1461444817709281
DO - 10.1177/1461444817709281
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85046815384
SN - 1461-4448
VL - 20
SP - 1889
EP - 1909
JO - New Media and Society
JF - New Media and Society
IS - 5
ER -