Media Use, Democratic Values, and Political Participation: Empirical Evidence from Taiwan
Wen-Chun Chang Department of Public Finance National Taipei University
[email protected] Published in the Japanese Journal of Political Science 18(3), 385-406, 2017.
Abstract This paper extends the understanding about the relationship between media use and the attitude toward democratic values. We employ the two-step estimation approach to examine the relationship between media use and the attitude toward democratic values as well as the consequential association with political participation. The empirical results show that media use in order to obtain news information is positively related to the attitude toward democratic values. The findings also note that the attitude toward democratic values is positively associated with engagements in politics. The results support the argument that media use is significant for shaping citizens’ attitudes toward democratic values by providing information about public affairs and expanding citizens’ understanding about democratic politics. As such, media use facilitates democratic socialization and leads to more involvement in political behaviors. Keywords: media use, democratic values, political participation
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Introduction Scholarly discussions on the relationship between media use and political participation have shifted their focuses away from the effects of traditional media such as television, radio, and newspapers and towards digital media, especially the Internet, mainly because of the rapid development of information technology since the late 1990s. The advance of information technology providing online information and network connections facilitated by the Internet has largely changed the pattern and the relationship between media use and political participation. These changes have drawn the attention of scholars to analyze the effects of digital media use on several important issues. Previous studies show that media use has strong effects on civic culture and political engagements (Kittilson and Dalton, 2011; Gil de Zúñiga et al., 2012). It is in fact argued that media use enhances information acquisition, community formation, and the promotion of civic-oriented behaviors, as well as provides lower-cost opportunities to involve people in public affairs and to enable them to express their personal opinions. The change in the range of available media may significantly alter people’s perceptions about democratic values and their attitudes toward politics, and therefore change the pattern of people’s political participation. Recent research has aimed at new forms of political participation made available through the Internet such as online political discussions, political blogging, and online petitions. The results from this area of research have indicated that these forms of online participation are mostly self-directed and often elite-challenging actions and have largely changed the relationships between political elites and ordinary citizens (Boulianne, 2009; Kittilson and Dalton, 2011; Xenos and Moy, 2007). Moreover, these new forms of participation that have mostly taken place through digital media were responsible for many cases of political protests fueled by the activism of demanding democratic reforms (e.g. the Arab Spring), because organizational requirements for collective action have become less costly and more convenient (Bimber et al., 2014; Sajuria, 2013; Tufekci and Wilson, 2012). Political scientists have increasingly recognized the importance of information technology within the process of democratization (Best and Wade, 2009; Mattes and Bratton, 2007; Nisbet et al., 2012; Sajuria, 2013; Swigger, 2013). Whether for the importance of the transition from an authoritarian to democratic system in non-democratic regimes or the democratic consolidation in new democratic countries, most citizens in these countries are required to have faith and strong commitments towards democratic values in order to make their country’s democratic system a well-functioning and 2
stable political institution (Groshek, 2009). Since political participation is considered as an essential element of a well-functioning democracy, the underlying mechanism facilitating people’s engagements in politics has also been a focus of researchers’ interests. Some theoretical and empirical developments have aimed at the influences of media use for obtaining news and information about politics. A large body of research has shown that media use for obtaining news and information about politics have significant effects on political participation, but the mediating processes of media use is still largely unclear. Recently, communication studies suggest that the effects of media use are significant but mostly indirect through their impacts on other personal-psychological outcomes (Cho et al., 2009; Lee et al., 2013; McLeod et al., 1996; Sotirovic and McLeod, 2001). The conceptual framework of these studies has been specified as communication mediation model (Shah et al., 2005). Under this framework, it is argued that the effects of media use are mediated by political knowledge, political discussion, and political efficacy as cognitive orientations to enhance political participation (Cho et al., 2009; Eveland, 2004; Jung et al., 2011). Even though previous mediation studies have identified important pathways to political participation, a broader range of cognitive variables that transmit toward political behaviors is far from well-established. It is unclear whether the attitude toward democratic values as an important cognitive variable reflecting a “personal-psychological” outcome mediates the indirect effects of media use in the similar way as those of political attitudes such as political interests and efficacy. As a result, investigating the importance of democratic values in the mediating process can help our understanding the relationship between media use and political participation. However, little research explores the role of media use in shaping the concept of democratic values. This study tests the mediating impact of democratic values (mediator, M) on the relationship between media use (independent variable, IV) and political participation (dependent variable, DV) in the context of Taiwan, a young democracy in Asia. Research motive From the perspective of political culture, the pattern of political participation in a country usually reflects its social norms, people’s ideological orientation and subjective attitudes about the political institutions, and the relationship between citizens and their country and society (De Koster and Van Der Waal, 2007; Inglehart, 2008). Compared with Western countries, the literature has argued that the value systems of East Asian societies emphasize more on social stability, social cohesion, 3
conformity, tolerance, and obedience to government authorities. Thus, the meaning of people’s rights and the attitude toward democratic values in the political discourse of East Asian societies may differ significantly from the Western Anglo-American tradition that focuses on individual rights (Dalton and Ong, 2006; Dalton and Shin, 2014). Taiwan is an East Asian country (along with Japan, China, and South Korea) that has experienced rapid growth in the number of Internet users, while several cable TV channels broadcast news programs daily for twenty-four hours. Based on the 2014 report of the Internet World Stats, Taiwan had 6,260,000 Internet users in 2000, which grew to 18,687,942 in 2014, accounting for about 80% of the population. According to Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC), 83.74% of Internet users in Taiwan spend more than an hour online each day. People in Taiwan are increasingly using the Internet, either via fixed broadband or mobile broadband subscriptions, for various purposes, while traditional forms of media such as TV, newspapers, and radio continue to provide a variety of sources of information. Aside from the growing importance of Internet use, Taiwan has transformed from an authoritarian regime to a democratic country after martial law was lifted in 1987. With its rapid social and political developments in the past three decades, Taiwan continues to progress economically and politically on the path of democratic consolidation. The political competition between the two major political alliances (the Pan-Green alliance consists of the Democratic Progressive Party and Taiwan Solidarity Union; the Pan-Blue alliance consists of the Nationalist Party (KMT), People First Party, and New Party) has been very intense. Analyzing the case of Taiwan, Wang (2007) indicates that political use of the Internet promotes political interest, political trust, and political efficacy, and therefore it makes an individual more likely to participate in campaigns and politics in Taiwan. Chang (2007) shows that the positive relationship between mobilizing media (TV news, newspapers, magazines, and Internet for work) and political participation is mediated by political interest, while the negative relationship between demobilizing media (TV non-news, radio, and Internet for pleasure) and political participation is mediated by political cynicism. Based on a contextual consideration, Taiwan has experienced drastic social and political movements since the 1980s as its economy continues to steadily develop. With the wide availability of information technology, Taiwanese people now have more opportunities with a variety of traditional and new forms of media to obtain information about public affairs and to potentially change their engagements in politics. This study contributes to the related literature by emphasizing the effect of digital media use on shaping democratic values and its relationship with political 4
participation for citizens in Taiwan. Literature review Media use and political participation Earlier studies on the relationship between media use and citizens’ political attitudes show that media use is significantly associated with political participation. For example, Zhao and Chaffee (1995) find that campaign news help voters gain information about important issues, and therefore informational media use is an important driving force for political participation. Eveland and Scheufele (2000) also note that information in news media can help citizens gain political knowledge as well as can encourage citizens to participate in political activities. Moreover, Corrigall-Brown and Wilkes (2014) argue that media exposure has direct and indirect effects on voting and protesting by increasing political trust, efficacy, and knowledge. Asides from traditional media, the effects of Internet use on citizens’ attitudes toward politics and democracy also have drawn many interests from researchers. Most importantly, there is a significant distinction between traditional media and digital media, especially the Internet, because traditional media such as television, radio, and newspaper is usually a form of one-way communication that provides information to audiences and readers without any feedback and participation from participant citizens. As a result, the opinions from traditional media are more likely to be controlled or dominated by the government or political elites. By contrast, the Internet allows the participant citizens to provide information, create discussions, and have different opinions, and therefore it serves as a pluralistic media platform with lower cost and more efficient ways to expand citizens’ understanding and range of considerations about public affairs. Kaye and Johnson (2002) present that political attitudes, including the likelihood of voting, political trust, interest in politics, partisanship, and political efficacy, are positively associated with using the Internet for purposes of information searching and guidance, but not for entertainment purposes. Tolbert and McNeal (2003) show that accessing the Internet for online election news is positively related to the probability of voting in the U.S. presidential elections in 1996 and 2000. Kittilson and Dalton (2011) find that online interactions foster citizen norms and political involvement. By expanding the provision and exchange of information and opinions, Internet use also plays a significant role in forming citizens’ attitudes toward democracy. For example, Groshek (2009) find that Internet diffusion and democracy demonstrate a 5
positive, statistically significant relationship in developing countries where the average level of sociopolitical instability is much higher. Sajuria (2013) indicates that Internet use is related to people’s conception of democracy. Studies by Best and Wade (2009) and Howard (2009) also argue that a higher rate of Internet penetration can facilitate a strong online civil society by promoting democratic values, which is particularly important for the democratic transition among authoritarian regimes. By contrast, Boyd and Marwick (2011) argue that social constructs of the Internet have changed the distinction between the private and public realms. Consequently, this phenomenon has led to the increasing importance of people’s right of the freedom of expression and has an effect on beliefs about civil liberties. Swigger (2013) shows that there is a strong correlation between the use of social media sites and support for civil liberties such as freedom of expression. His findings suggest that information technology may lead to changes in American attitudes on basic democratic values. Media use, political attitude, and democratic values In defining democratic values, there are at least three perspectives that have been widely employed in scholarly discussions. The first perspective emphasizes the institutions and procedures of democratic governance. As discussed by Dahl (1989) and Huntington (1991), democracy is largely defined as the institutions and processes of representative government to ensure citizens can participate equally in free and fair elections, and elections direct the actions of government. According to this perspective, it is assumed that citizens’ the attitudes toward democratic values are often mainly measured in institutional and procedural terms as “fair and free elections,” “multiparty competitions,” and “majority rile”. The second commonly used perspective of defining democratic values focuses on the outcomes of a democratic society. That is, democracy emphasizes freedom and liberty as its fundamental goals, and democratic institutions are the required mechanisms to achieve these goals. As discussed by Diamond (1996), basic democratic values include political liberties, participation right of citizens, equal justice before the law, and equal rights for women and minorities. The third perspective of defining democratic values focuses on providing the social services for those in need and ensuring the general welfare of others (McIntosh and Abele, 1993). From this perspective, the basic democratic values often include economic improvement, social welfare, and economic security as the key elements of democracy. Dalton et al. (2007) demonstrate that democracy is broadly perceived in terms of freedom, civil liberties, and citizen rights, and these basic democratic values are what 6
most citizens consider when they are asked to define democracy in most nations. They further argue that the popular appeal of democracy lies not in its procedures for elections and governance, but rather in the freedom and liberty that democracy provides. Moreover, in a study of comparing similarities and differences in understanding democracy across countries, Cho (2015) indicates that free elections and civil liberties are essential in defining democracy across different regions and countries. According to his findings, 92% and 93% of the people in Taiwan comprehend that free elections and civil liberties, respectively, are essential in defining democracy. Therefore, we aim at the concept of freedom and liberty in defining democratic values in this study. Despite that a large body of research has demonstrated that media use has strong effects on political participation, recent studies suggest that the media effects are mostly indirect and mediated via other psychological and social structural factors. It is argued that informational media use shapes and channels the impacts of social cultural and other background factors on political participation. This perspective is similar to political learning theories that emphasize the importance of democratic political system, political interest, and media use in exposing citizens to democracy in principle as well as in practice (Almond and Verba, 1963; Mattes and Branton, 2007). This analytical framework has been further specified as communication mediation model to examine the direct and indirect effects of media use on political participation (Shah et al., 2005). For example, the studies of Eveland (2004), and Shah et al. (2005) show that informational media use enhances people’s political discussion, political knowledge, and competence to understand politics as well as political efficacy, and therefore it enhances political participation. Later, Shah et al. (2007) propose an Orientation-Stimulus-Reasoning-Orientation-Response (O-S-R-O-R) model, an extension of the O-S-O-R model, arguing that the effects of news media use (S) on political participation (second R) are mediated by reasoning behaviors (first R) and individuals’ psychological variables (second O). In other words, the effects of news media use on political participation are achieved by the way of a reasoning process. Testing the O-S-R-O-R model, Cho et al. (2009) demonstrate that political conversation, political messaging, and cognitive reflection mediate the effects of campaign advertising exposure and news consumption on political participation and knowledge. Based on the O-S-R-O-R model, Jung et al. (2011) indicate that political knowledge and political efficacy are significant mediators for the news media use in enhancing political participation. Moreover, testing a communication mediation model of political socialization, Lee et al. (2013) find that news consumption and political expression via digital media technologies are strong pathways to political participation. 7
According to the communication mediation and OSROR models from previous research, political socialization impacts the fundamental values that individuals hold, creating citizens who have different ideas about norms and democratic values. In addition, the expansion of social media access on the Internet implies that more and more people have shared and exchanged increasing amounts of information, and the opportunity for online socialization is also expanding. The cultivation of democratic citizenship via online socialization has shifted the distinction between private and public realms and altered the interactions among the government, political parties, political elites, and ordinary citizens. Accordingly, based on the framework of communication mediation model, media use for obtaining news and information stimulates political socialization by shaping the attitude toward democratic values. As an important cognitive variable reflecting a “personal-psychological” outcome that provides the reasoning process of mental elaboration and collective thinking (Cho et al., 2009; Shah et al., 2007), the attitude toward democratic values can be important in mediating the relationship between media use and political participation. Despite the achievements of the previous literature, studies on the influences of media use in enhancing citizens’ attitudes toward democratic values and the consequential associations with political participation for an East Asian democracy remain very limited. By examining the case of Taiwan, this study targets to fill this gap. Therefore, three hypotheses are proposed in this study as follows. Hypothesis 1: Non-Internet media use for obtaining news and information, but not for entertainment purposes, is positively associated with the attitudes toward democratic values. Hypothesis 2: Using the Internet for reading news or searching for information is positively associated with democratic value. Hypothesis 3: Democratic value mediates the relationship between political participation and media use for obtaining news and information. Data This study uses data from Taiwan Social Change Survey (TSCS) 2010 to examine the role of media use in explaining the formation of an individual’s values toward democracy as well as the relationship between democratic value and various types of political participation. The data was collected through face-to-face interviews conducted from July 12 to September 20 in 2010. The population encompassed 8
individuals over 18 years old in Taiwan. Census of Taiwan was used as the sampling frame, and the method of Stratified Three-Stage Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) is used to determine who would be contacted for the interviews. Using this method, a probability proportional to size sampling first determined the towns and districts to be included in the sample, and then systematic sampling was used to determine who would be contacted for the interviews within the sampled towns and districts. The response rate was 56% with a total of 1,895 respondents who completed the interview. After excluding the samples of those who were ineligible to vote or which had insufficient information about their engagements in political behaviors, this study ends up with 1,622 observations. The descriptive statistics of key variables used in this study and their correlation coefficients are provided in Appendices 1 and 2. Empirical method and measures Based on the arguments discussed above, we first investigate the importance of traditional media use and Internet use for shaping democratic values and then examine the relationship between democratic values and political participation. That is, we first examine the relationships between various forms of media use and democratic values. After estimating the importance of media use for predicting democratic value, we use the predicted value of democratic value as the key explanatory variable in the second step of the estimation to examine whether it is strongly associated with various forms of political participation. In the first step of estimation the dependent variable is Demoi which measures an individual’s values toward democracy, and the key explanatory variables are traditional and digital media (Internet) use along with levels of educational attainment as the control variables. After estimating the determinants of democratic value, we use the predicted value of democratic value Demoi as the key explanatory variable in the second step of estimation. In the second step of estimation, the dependent variable Politicali measures political participation for an individual i, with a set of socioeconomic variables including gender, age, age2, marital status, education, religious attachment, religious attendance, employment status, income level, partisanship, and political efficacy as the control variables. This study considers ten types of political participation: voting in a presidential election (Votep), voting in a legislator election (Votel), presenting petitions to government or public officials (Govt), making complaints through the mass media (Media), making complaints via the Internet (Net), joining protests (Protest), making political donations (Donation), attending election campaigns (Campaign), wearing or pasting political banners (Banner), and volunteering for a certain candidate or political party (Volunt). The variable for each type of political participation is 9
constructed by coding 1 (the respondent participated) and 0 otherwise. The Cronbach’s alpha for these indexes of political participation is calculated as 0.6509. With ten items of political participation and the narrow range of value for each item used in this study, this estimate of reliability is acceptable according to Loewenthal (1996). More discussions about reliability also can be found in Cortina (1993), Goforth (2015), Hair et al. (2006), Moss et al. (1998), Schmitt (1996), and Streiner and Norman (2008). With these measures of political participation, we conduct factor analysis to obtain constructs of specific types of participation. From the factor loading result as reported in Table 1, we create three measures of political participation with factor scores as election-related participation (Election-related, which is mostly defined by Donate, Campaign, Banner, and Volunteer), voter turnout (Turnout, which is mostly defined by Votep and Votel), and non-electoral participation (Non-electoral, which is mostly defined by Govt, Media, Net, and Protest). The result from factor analysis appears to be consistent with the classification in Western literature emphasizes that duty-based citizenship often can nurture voting- and campaign-related activities, and engaged citizenship stimulates protest and other elite-challenging forms of action. To measure democratic value, we utilize respondents’ answers to the various questions asked in TSCS that are mostly related the concept of democracy from the perspective of “freedom and civil liberties” as discussed above: (1) Political decisions should be left to those who are older (Demo1); (2) We should follow all the government’s decisions on national affairs (Demo2); (3) Brutal criminals should be punished immediately without waiting for the court’s sentence (Demo3); (4) If people have different opinions, then society will become chaotic (Demo4); (5) The government has the right to decide if certain speeches or opinions can be circulated in society (Demo5); (6) Stability will be affected if there are many opposing groups in a region (Demo6); (7) If there are several political parties in a country, then it will lead to political chaos (Demo7); (8) If the council or assembly is always interfering with the government, then it becomes impossible for it to achieve much (Demo8); (9) When a judge imposes a sentence in important cases that affect safety in society, he/she should accept the executive body’s opinion (Demo9). Following the responses (from strongly agree to strongly disagree; coded as 1 if the answer is disagree or strongly disagree for each question) to these questions, we conduct a composite index of democratic value (Demo) by adding up these nine items to reflect the attitudes toward the fundamental values of democracy based on the concepts of freedom and civil liberties. These democratic values can be characterized with the beliefs and principles of individualism, popular sovereignty, equality of rights, tolerance, freedom, independence of the legal system, justice, rule of law, checks and balances, pluralism, 10
etc. Therefore, the composite index of democratic value (Demo) is constructed by adding up these three factors. A higher value of the index indicates a more positive attitude toward democratic value. As for the variables of media use, we first construct the variables of the hours of time spent every day watching TV (TV), listening to the radio (Radio), and using the Internet (Internet). In addition, the hours of time spent every day by an individual in reading, watching, or listening to news programs through newspapers (Newspaper), TV (TVnews), radio (Radionews), and the Internet (Netnews) reflect the frequencies of an individual exposed to various types of media for obtaining news. We also set up seven dummy variables regarding the functions used on the Internet to reflect the importance of the differences in Internet functions for mediating the fundamental democratic value: (1) Browsing or searching for information (Info); (2) Making social contacts (e.g. visiting blogs or websites that provide services for making friends) (Contact); (3) Using e-commerce services (e.g. auctions, shopping, group shopping, banking services) (Commerce); (4) Watching a video or listening to an audio file (e.g. watching TV programs/movies, listening to music or the radio) (Entertainment); (5) Using web communications (e.g. e-mails, instant messenger services, Internet phone calls, or Skype) (Communication); (6) Playing online games (Game); and (7) Downloading or uploading files (Loadfile). Other socioeconomic variables used in this study include gender (Gender), age (Age), squared of age (Age2), marital status (Married), education level (High, College, and Grad), religious affiliation (Buddha, Tao, Folk, and Christianity), frequency of religious attendance (Attend3, Attend2, and Attend1), employment status (Unemployed), family income level (Income2, Income3, Income4, and Income5), partisanship (Blue, the Pan-Blue political camp and Green, the Pan-Green political camp) and political efficacy (Efficacy) which are often considered as important factors for explaining political participation in the set of explanatory variables. Before presenting our empirical results, it is useful to briefly describe the correlations among the key variables used in this study. As Appendix 2 reports, democratic value (Demo) is positively correlated with all types of media use except watching television (TV). Among all types of media use, using the Internet for browsing or searching for information (Info) has the highest value of correlation coefficient with democratic value at 0.3136 followed by using web communications (Communication) at 0.2866. Moreover, democratic value is also positively correlated with all types of election-related and non-electoral participation, but it is negatively correlated with voter turnouts in presidential and legislator elections. Among different types of political participation, making complaints via the Internet (Net) has the highest value of correlation coefficient, 0.1791, with democratic value. 11
Empirical results As with the empirical method described in the previous section, we first examine the relationship between different types of media use and democratic value. As noted in Table 2, watching TV is negatively associated with democratic value, while people who spend more time on reading newspapers, watching news programs on TV, and reading news on the Internet have more positive attitudes toward democratic values. As for the functions utilized on the Internet, people who frequently use it for browsing or searching for information tend to have more positive attitudes toward democratic value. By contrast, using the Internet for making social contacts, e-commerce services, watching a video program, playing online games, or loading files is not significantly associated with the attitude toward democratic value. The above finding indicates that obtaining information through traditional media use by reading newspapers and watching news programs on TV still has a strong positive effect on people’s attitude toward democratic value as does getting information via digital media by reading news on the Internet. Moreover, simply spending more time on watching TV, but not necessarily for news information, could lead to a more negative attitude toward democratic value. Likewise, among various functions used on the Internet, only browsing or searching for information can potentially lead to a more positive attitude toward democratic value. Apparently, the Internet has a positive impact on the formation of democratic value by facilitating information gathering and exchange for people, but not by providing a platform for other commercial and entertainment purposes. Therefore, Hypotheses 1 and 2 are supported by the result of Table 2. After estimating the relationship between media use and attitude toward democratic value, we employ the predicted value of democratic value (Demo) obtained from this estimation as the key explanatory variable to examine whether people’s attitudes toward democratic value strongly correlate with voter turnout, election-related and non-electoral types of political participation. As shown in Table 3, controlling for the effects of other socioeconomic variables, the attitude toward democratic value is positively associated the voter turnouts (Turnout), election-related participation (Election-related), and non-electoral participation (Non-electoral). This suggests that people with a more positive attitude toward democratic value are more likely to turnout to vote in elections and have a higher tendency to participate in election-related and non-electoral types of political participation.
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Mediation analysis To analyze the importance of democratic value in the mediating process of the association between media use and political participation as described as Figure 1, this study employs the approach of structural equation model (SEM). The SEM methods have several advantages including the simultaneous testing of path, the comparison of direct and indirect effects, and the magnitude of such effects. Moreover, we also use the bootstrap mediation test developed by Preacher and Hayes (2004; 2008), i.e. bootstrapping with case resampling and a percentile estimate of the confidence interval, to examine whether the indirect effects of media use on political participation mediated by democratic values are significantly different from zero. These estimations and tests are conducted with Stata 14 statistical software. To conduct the testing process, we use the measures of voter turnout (Turnout), election-relation participation (Election-related), and non-electoral participation (Non-electoral) obtained from factor analysis as dependent variables for SEM estimations. As reported in Table 4, the results of SEM estimation show that the attitude toward democratic values (Demo) is significantly positive for predicting non-electoral participation, but insignificant for predicting voter turnout in elections and election-related participation. Moreover, reading newspapers (Newspaper), watching TV news programs (TVnews), reading news on the Internet (Netnews), searching information on the Internet (Info), and using web communication (Communication) are positively associated with the attitude toward democratic values, while the time spent on watching television (TV) is negatively related to democratic values. Based on the results of SEM, the indirect effects of various types of media use on political participation via democratic values are also calculated and reported in Table 5A. Regarding non-electoral participation, Info has the largest indirect effect of 0.0116, followed by Communication, Netnews, Newspaper, and TVnews with 0.0096, 0.0083, 0.0075, and 0.0040, respectively, while TV has a negative indirect effect of -0.0019. To further confirm that these indirect effects on non-electoral participation are significant and non-zero, bootstrap mediation tests are conducted for the types of media use with significant associations with the attitude toward democratic values. As presented in Table 5B, the proportion of total effect that is mediated by democratic values is ranged from about 0.2798 for Info to 0.1048 for Netnews. More importantly, according to the 95% confidence intervals obtained from bootstrap mediation tests, excepting TVnews, these indirect effects are all significantly different from zero. These results suggest that the positive associations between non-electoral 13
participation and several types of media use are partially mediated via the attitude toward democratic values. In particular, the indirect effects of using the functions of searching for information (Info) and web communication (Communication) on the Internet account for more than 20% of the total effects. The results from SEM estimations confirm that the associations between media use and non-electoral political participation are partially mediated by the attitude toward democratic values. Summarizing the results of mediation analysis as reported in Tables 4, 5A, and 5B, we conclude that Hypothesis 3 is partially supported. That is, democratic value mediates the relationship between non-electoral political participation and media use for obtaining news and information. Discussion In this paper we have extended the understanding about the relationship between media use and political participation by focusing on the role of media use in shaping people’s attitudes toward democratic values. The results support the argument that media use plays a significant role in cultivating citizens’ democratic citizenship. As a result, media use enhances democratic socialization and leads to greater involvement in political behaviors. Some distinct results from this study can be summarized as follows. First, people’s attitudes toward democratic values are positively associated with the time spent on reading newspapers, watching news programs on television, and reading news on the Internet. Second, aiming at the various functions utilized on the Internet, people who frequently use it for browsing information or for web communication have a more positive attitude toward democratic values, but there is no strong relationship between other functions used on the Internet such as making social contacts, using e-commerce services, or for other online entertainments. In other words, democratic socialization most likely occurs on the Internet through providing sufficient and diverse information, connecting people for information exchanges, and expanding opportunities for reaching different opinions and viewpoints through web communication. Third, based on the results of two-step estimations, the attitude toward democratic values is positively associated with voter turnout in elections, election-related as well as non-electoral political participation. Not surprisingly, this result shows that people with a more positive attitude toward democratic values are more likely to actively participate in traditional forms of political behaviors. This also suggests that the democratic values from emphasizing the beliefs and principles of individualism, freedom, and equality of rights also can potentially have strong 14
influences in enhancing people’s engagements outside the traditional political platforms. Moreover, the mediation analyses of SEM suggest that the attitude toward democratic values is more significant in mediating the association between media use for obtaining news and information and non-electoral political participation. This indicates that media use for obtaining news and information is more likely to be mediated by the attitude toward democratic values in mobilizing non-electoral political participation. Contributing to the understanding of the indirect media effects beyond existing mediators identified in the previous literature (e.g. political discussion, political knowledge, and political efficacy), this study shows that the attitude toward democratic value is also an important cognitive variable that mediates the relationship between media use and political participation. Fitting in the communication mediation model, the attitude toward democratic values plays a significant role in shaping a personal-psychological outcome that motivates political participation. In particular, the mediating effects of democratic values are substantial for enhancing non-electoral types of participation that are characterized by more personally expressive and caused-oriented behaviors based on concerns over specific social or political issues. From the socio-cultural context, Taiwan has experienced drastic social and political movements since the 1980s. After transforming from an authoritarian system to a liberal democracy with multiple-party competition, the process of democratic consolidation has followed a smooth path in Taiwan. In this study we have empirically demonstrated that media use plays a significant role in shaping people’s attitudes toward democratic values. In particular, the increasing popularity of Internet use for obtaining news and information in Taiwan has contributed to the formation of democratic citizenships that emphasize fundamental liberal values. In spite of many socio-cultural similarities among Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and other East Asian countries, this study on the case of Taiwan still provides valuable results as references or comparisons for other countries in the region. As for traditional culture, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea are strongly influenced by the East Asian tradition of Confucianism. While the cultural values emphasizing social orders and collective interest influenced by the tradition of Confucianism often provide a stabilizing effect for the political and economic development of East Asian countries, media use can potentially change people’s attitude toward political institutions and democratic citizenship. While some interesting results have been reported, there are at least two limitations in this study. First, using data from TSCS 2010, the measure of democratic values is restricted to a few items mostly regarding “freedom and civil liberties”. This 15
prevents us from examining the relationship between media use and “institutional and procedural” terms of democratic values. Second, it is very difficult to conclude the causal relationships between media use and democratic values as well as democratic values and political participation with the cross-sectional data. We cannot rule out the possibility that engagements in politic behaviors lead to a more positive attitude toward democratic values. For future research, it will be interesting to investigate the role of media use in the formation of democratic citizenship by comparing the differences across East Asian countries that have either similar or different levels of democratic consolidation. In the social contexts of East Asian countries, traditional values may still be important components for defining people’s attitudes toward democratic values as socioeconomic modernization continues to take place, leading to different consequences in different countries in the region. However, the interactions among citizens, governments, political parties, and political elites are expected to change drastically as the advancement of information technology has expanded the range of available information about politics and people’s understanding about public affairs.
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Table 1. Factor loading of political behaviors Factor 1
Factor2
Factor3
Factor4
Factor5
Uniqueness
(Election-related)
(Turnout)
(Non-electoral)
Votep
0.0747
0.6457
0.0204
0.0235
0.0008
0.5765
Votel
0.0854
0.6554
-0.0011
-0.0293
0.0000
0.5622
Donate
0.5045
0.0868
0.1017
-0.1096
0.0077
0.7155
Campaign
0.6786
0.1052
0.0426
-0.0152
0.0080
0.5264
Banner
0.6853
0.0408
0.0837
0.0347
0.0010
0.5205
Volunteer
0.6471
0.0425
0.0680
0.0026
-0.0105
0.5747
Govt
0.2036
0.0510
0.4629
-0.0235
-0.0036
0.7411
Media
0.0715
-0.0134
0.5243
0.0072
0.0007
0.7198
Net
0.0186
-0.0514
0.2945
0.1431
0.0034
0.8898
Protest
0.2350
0.0758
0.3193
0.0218
0.0181
0.8363
17
Table 2. Regression results of media use for explaining the attitude toward democratic value Variable
Coefficient
S.E.
High College Grad TV Radio
0.6663*** 1.5218*** 2.2879*** -0.0801* 0.0493
0.1496 0.1766 0.2969 0.0348 0.0303
Internet Newspaper TVnews Radionews Netnews
-0.0192 0.3688*** 0.2172** -0.1671 0.4202**
0.0311 0.0908 0.0767 0.1318 0.1539
Info Contact Commerce Entertainment
0.3352* -0.1694 -0.0442 0.1270
0.1574 0.1681 0.1612 0.1673
Communication Game Loadfile Intercept R2 N
0.2936 0.0668 0.0033 3.4096 0.1958 1622
0.1736 0.1780 0.1724 0.1268
Note: ***, **, and * denote significance at 0.1%, 1%, and 5% levels, respectively.
18
Table 3. OLS estimations of political behaviors with factor analysis Turnout
Election-related
Non-electoral
Coefficient
S.E.
Coefficient
S.E.
Gender
0.0190
0.0347
0.1298***
0.0416
0.0832**
0.0326
Age
0.0654***
0.0078
0.0263**
0.0094
0.0034
0.0074
-0.0005***
0.0001
-0.0002**
0.0001
0.0001
0.0001
Married
0.1301**
0.0551
-0.0898
0.0661
-0.0086
0.0517
High
0.0339
0.0644
0.0105
0.0772
-0.0643
0.0604
College
-0.1045
0.1031
-0.3438**
0.1238
-0.0922
0.0968
Grad
-0.1284
0.1552
-0.3868**
0.1863
0.0683
0.1457
Buddha
0.0606
0.0554
0.0389
0.0665
0.0160
0.0520
Tao
0.1424**
0.0606
0.0266
0.0727
-0.0133
0.0569
Folk
0.0217
0.0505
0.0552
0.0606
-0.0025
0.0474
Christianity
-0.0957
0.0895
-0.0164
0.1074
0.0098
0.0841
Attend3
0.1769**
0.0701
0.1929**
0.0842
0.0443
0.0659
Attend2
0.1141**
0.0547
0.2213***
0.0657
0.0249
0.0514
Attend1
0.0834
0.0497
0.1930***
0.0597
-0.0102
0.0467
Unemployed
0.0266
0.0706
0.1161
0.0847
0.0847
0.0663
Income2
0.0073
0.0500
-0.0502
0.0600
-0.0110
0.0469
Income3
0.0892
0.0584
-0.0341
0.0701
0.0689
0.0548
Income4
0.0066
0.0573
-0.0372
0.0688
0.0049
0.0538
Income5
0.0347
0.0607
0.1070
0.0728
0.0400
0.0570
Blue
0.3354***
0.0395
0.1748***
0.0474
0.0019
0.0371
Green
0.3092***
0.0445
0.2835***
0.0534
0.0865**
0.0418
Efficacy
0.0326*
0.0141
0.0039
0.0170
0.0219
0.0133
Demo
0.0933*
0.0432
0.2007***
0.0518
0.1757***
0.0406
Intercept
-2.7264
0.2669
-1.8710***
0.3203
-1.1041***
0.2506
Age
2
2
Coefficient
S.E.
Variable
R
0.1803
0.0772
0.0754
N
1622
1622
1622
Note: ***, **, and * denote significance at 0.1%, 1%, and 5% levels, respectively.
19
Table 4. Results of structural equation model (SEM) Variable
Turnout
Election-related
Non-electoral
Demo
Demo
-0.0041 (0.0082)
0.0093 (0.0094)
0.0148 (0.0072)*
TV
0.0009 (0.0116)
-0.0040 (0.0133)
-0.0242 (0.0103)**
-0.1315 (0.0351)***
Radio
-0.0046 (0.0102)
0.0191 (0.0117)
-0.0161 (0.0090)
0.0330 (0.0308)
Internet
-0.0064 (0.0104)
-0.0226 (0.0119)
0.0066 (0.0092)
0.0090 (0.0315)
Newspaper
0.1374 (0.0304)***
0.1445 (0.0349)***
0.1266 (0.0268)***
0.5101 (0.0913)***
TVnews
0.0355 (0.0259)
0.0675 (0.0297)**
0.0250 (0.0228)
0.2725 (0.0781)***
Radionews
-0.0175 (0.0444)
-0.0420 (0.0510)
0.0271 (0.0392)
-0.1157 (0.1345)
Netnews
0.0648 (0.0517)
0.1457 (0.0593)**
0.2164 (0.0457)***
0.5594 (0.1562)***
Info
0.0390 (0.0501)
0.0358 (0.0575)
-0.0217 (0.0442)
0.7847 (0.1506)***
Contact
0.0051 (0.0561)
-0.0077 (0.0643)
0.0369 (0.0495)
0.0467 (0.1700)
Commerce
-0.1196 (0.0541)**
0.0504 (0.0621)
0.0010 (0.0478)
-0.0678 (0.1639)
Entertainment
-0.0320 (0.0564)
-0.0029 (0.0648)
-0.0019 (0.0498)
0.1153 (0.1710)
Communication
-0.1301 (0.0573)**
-0.0605 (0.0658)
0.0269 (0.0506)
0.6535 (0.1730)***
Game
-0.2159 (0.0592)***
-0.0721 (0.0679)
-0.0370 (0.0522)
-0.1390 (0.1793)
Loadfile
-0.0364 (0.0581)
-0.0234 (0.0667)
0.0118 (0.0513)
0.0275 (0.1761)
Intercept
0.0319 (0.0495)
-0.1417 (0.0568)*
-0.1298 (0.0437)***
3.8254 (0.1162)***
L-likelihood
-27956.033
N
1622
1622
1622
1622
Note: Numbers in parentheses are standard errors. ***, **, and * denote significance at 0.1%, 1%, and 5% levels, respectively. Model fit statistics: comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.927, root mean squared error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.085, standardized root mean squared residual (SRMR) = 0.011, and these statistics indicate that the goodness of fit for the model is generally acceptable (Hatcher, 1994; Steiger, 1999).
20
Table 5A. Indirect effects of media use on political participation mediated via democratic value (SEM) Variable
Turnout
Election-related
Non-electoral
TV Radio Internet Newspaper
0.0005 -0.0001 -0.0001 -0.0021
-0.0012 0.0003 0.0001 0.0048
-0.0019# 0.0005 0.0001 0.0075#
TVnews Radionews Netnews Info Contact
-0.0011 0.0005 -0.0023 -0.0032 -0.0002
0.0025 -0.0011 0.0052 0.0073 0.0004
0.0040# -0.0017 0.0083# 0.0116# 0.0007
Commerce Entertainment Communication Game
0.0002 -0.0005 -0.0027 0.0006
-0.0006 0.0011 0.0061 -0.0013
-0.0010 0.0017 0.0096# -0.0021
Loadfile
-0.0001
0.0003
0.0004
Note: # denotes significance at 10% level. Table 5B. Bootstrap mediation test: non-electoral participation Variable
Proportion of total effect that is mediated
Ratio of indirect to direct effect
95% conf. interval
TV* Newspaper*
0.1571 0.1255
0.1863 0.1435
TVnews Netnews* Info* Communication*
-1.2161 0.1084 0.2798 0.2494
-0.5488 0.1215 0.3884 0.3323
[-0.0070 -0.0017] [0.0083 0.0264] [-0.0027 0.0061]
* indicates that indirect effect is not zero with 95% confidence.
21
[0.0117 0.0532] [0.0181 0.0625] [0.0186 0.0594]
Appendix 1. Descriptive statistics of key variables (N = 1622) Variable
Mean
Std. Dev.
Demo
4.6911
2.3689
TV
2.4282
1.9423
Radio
0.8067
2.0541
Internet
1.5473
2.5018
Paper
0.3748
0.6016
TVnews
0.8668
0.8658
Radionews
0.1315
0.4712
Netnews
0.2051
0.4260
Info
0.4852
0.4999
Contact
0.2256
0.4181
Commerce
0.2195
0.4140
Program
0.2189
0.4136
Commun
0.3477
0.4764
Game
0.3324
Loadfile
0.1265 1264 0.2386
Votep
0.8724
0.3338
Votel
0.7423
0.4375
Donate
0.0734
0.2608
Campaign
0.1455
0.3527
Banner
0.0783
0.2687
Volunteer
0.0746
0.2628
Govt
0.0962
0.2949
Media
0.0216
0.1453
Net
0.1042
0.3056
Protest
0.0493
0.2166
0.4264
22
Appendix 2. Correlation coefficients among key variables TV
Radio
Internet
Newspaper
TVnews
Radionews
Netnews
Info
TV
1.0000
Radio
-0.0377
1.0000
Internet
-0.0373
0.0059
1.0000
Newspaper
-0.0043
0.0092
-0.0550
1.0000
TVnews
0.5858
-0.0451
-0.0283
0.0613
1.0000
Radionews
-0.0132
0.5086
0.0011
-0.0140
0.0144
1.0000
Netnews
-0.1014
-0.0035
0.5375
-0.0084
-0.0030
0.0662
1.0000
Info
-0.1343
-0.0003
0.5339
0.0633
-0.0643
0.0008
0.4239
1.0000
Contact
-0.0754
0.0175
0.4724
-0.0403
-0.0917
-0.0082
0.3042
0.4291
Commerce
-0.0550
0.0118
0.4562
-0.0204
-0.0503
-0.0026
0.2859
0.4657
Entertainment
-0.0748
0.0234
0.4391
-0.0006
-0.0622
-0.0081
0.2938
0.4617
Communication
-0.1278
-0.0042
0.5639
-0.0250
-0.0795
-0.0075
0.3975
0.6070
Game
-0.0062
-0.0066
0.3517
-0.0217
-0.0295
-0.0301
0.1498
0.2804
Loadfile
-0.1014
0.0481
0.4943
-0.0247
-0.0611
-0.0042
0.2995
0.4898
Votep
0.0119
-0.0059
-0.0488
0.0849
0.0349
-0.0113
0.0024
-0.0280
Votel
0.0538
-0.0302
-0.1495
0.1280
0.0779
-0.0145
-0.0637
-0.1218
Donate
-0.0082
0.0130
-0.0433
0.1447
0.0249
-0.0054
0.0218
0.0296
Campaign
0.0176
0.0349
-0.0303
0.0929
0.0601
0.0231
0.0334
0.0122
Banner
0.0236
0.0164
-0.0060
0.0905
0.0541
0.0008
0.0482
0.0155
Volunteer
0.0262
0.0323
-0.0468
0.0649
0.0726
-0.0138
0.0121
-0.0268
Govt
-0.0412
-0.0231
-0.0038
0.1102
0.0224
-0.0076
0.0915
-0.0071
Media
-0.0535
-0.0139
0.0464
0.1044
-0.0098
0.0062
0.1095
0.0426
Net
-0.0962
-0.0367
0.3588
0.0190
-0.0246
-0.0222
0.2834
0.3150
Protest
0.0094
-0.0216
-0.0215
0.0652
0.0320
0.0369
0.0296
0.0067
Demo
-0.1023
0.0176
0.2233
0.1427
0.0200
-0.0012
0.2397
0.3136
23
Appendix 2. Correlation coefficients among key variables (continued) Contact
Commerce
Entertainment
Communication
Game
Loadfile
Votep
Votel
Contact
1.0000
Commerce
0.4407
1.0000
Entertainment
0.4847
0.4326
1.0000
Communication
0.5690
0.5011
0.4839
1.0000
Game
0.2563
0.2062
0.3237
0.2482
1.0000
Loadfile
0.4937
0.4755
0.5433
0.5905
0.2790
1.0000
Votep
-0.0322
-0.0740
-0.0523
-0.0583
-0.0936
-0.0417
1.0000
Votel
-0.1473
-0.1507
-0.1381
-0.1825
-0.1450
-0.1662
0.5477
1.0000
Donate
-0.0444
-0.0235
-0.0403
-0.0416
-0.0572
-0.0557
0.0864
0.1063
Campaign
-0.0178
0.0093
-0.0197
-0.0406
-0.0201
-0.0382
0.1264
0.1232
Banner
-0.0091
0.0118
0.0344
0.0137
-0.0211
0.0361
0.0771
0.0825
Volunteer
-0.0129
-0.0145
-0.0425
-0.0299
-0.0515
-0.0378
0.0805
0.0815
Govt
-0.0310
-0.0416
-0.0311
-0.0099
-0.0486
-0.0158
0.0433
0.0727
Media
0.0315
0.0443
0.0137
0.0608
0.0074
0.0264
0.0059
-0.0095
Net
0.3421
0.2677
0.2978
0.3273
0.1557
0.3015
0.0155
-0.0759
Protest
-0.0344
-0.0176
-0.0035
-0.0348
-0.0267
-0.0340
0.0701
0.0756
Demo
0.1856
0.1736
0.1918
0.2866
0.0809
0.2056
-0.0195
-0.0358
Donate
Campaign
Banner
Volunteer
Govt
Media
Net
Protest
Donate
1.0000
Campaign
0.4137
1.0000
Banner
0.3581
0.4981
1.0000
Volunteer
0.3161
0.4751
0.5199
1.0000
Govt
0.1729
0.1560
0.1774
0.1859
1.0000
Media
0.1047
0.0350
0.0673
0.1032
0.3401
1.0000
Net
-0.0186
0.0367
0.0659
0.0107
0.1352
0.1855
1.0000
Protest
0.1543
0.2128
0.2198
0.1304
0.1864
0.2209
0.0994
1.0000
Demo
0.0567
0.0487
0.0312
0.0024
0.0523
0.0642
0.1791
0.0622
Demo Demo
1.0000
24
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28
Media Use: TV Radio Internet Newspapers TV news Radio news Internet news
Democratic Values
Internet function: Searching info Social contact E-commerce
Political Participation
Watch programs Web communication Online games Loading files
Figure 1: The path of mediation
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