Media Use and Participatory Democracy in South Korea

Analyzing data from a telephone survey of South Korean respondents, this study explored facilitating and inhibiting effects of mass media use on political participation. It was hypothesized that the facilitating or inhibiting effect is dependent on the specific types of content presented by the media. Consistent with previous findings from the United States, our data supported the idea that news media use plays an important role in motivating participatory behaviors. Contrary to this procivic role, however, we found that viewing entertainment television programs may undermine such behaviors. This study also examined in detail the mechanism through which the media may have effects on different forms of political participation.

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