Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• MUHLBERGER, Peter

Titel

Political Values, Political Attitudes, and Attitude Polarization in Internet Political Discussion: Political Transformation or Politics as Usual?

Ist Teil von

• Communications, 2003, Vol.28 (2), p.107-133

Ort / Verlag

Berlin, Germany: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG

Erscheinungsjahr

2003

Quelle

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The scholarly literature on the social effects of technology suggests a number of hypotheses regarding the political implications of the Internet, including that it will -- make no difference (normalization); mobilize those already interested in politics (reinforcement); mobilize new types of participants with different political attitudes (mobilization); instill new types of attitudes (cultural change); & polarize attitudes (polarization). This paper will test the null hypothesis of normalization -- that political discussion on the Internet does not represent people with different or more polarized political values, party identifications, ideology, & other political attitudes than does offline discussion. A 2001 representative sample mail survey of Pittsburgh, PA, residents elicited key political attitudes & political values -- egalitarianism, humanitarianism, economic individualism, traditionalism, & racism. The results replicate findings from prior studies showing significant attitude & value differences between online & offline activists & discussants. But, when proper account is taken of discussion frequencies, these differences prove insignificant. For Internet users as a whole, the normalization hypothesis is supported & the mobilization & polarization hypotheses are rejected. Focusing on a particular demographic category to test the cultural change hypothesis, however, shows that Internet political discussion overrepresents younger people who are appreciably more conservative. 3 Tables, 36 References. Adapted from the source document.