Who Participates and Why?

Abstract

Scholars continue to find that political participation, especially beyond voting, is in limited supply in the United States. However, the rise of the Internet provides possibilities to mitigate such circumstances. Some scholars suggest that the Internet disconnects citizens from public life, while other studies note that it provides a venue for further participation in public life. The question remains as to whether the Internet mobilizes or demobilizes citizens. The article explores this question using Survey2000, a comprehensive, Internet-based, social scientific survey conducted in 1998 by scholars at Northwestern University in conjunction with the National Geographic Society. A positive relationship is found between engagement on the Internet and civic and political participation. However, the article also finds that the Internet appears to exacerbate the socioeconomic bias already exhibited by civic and political participation prior to the rise of the Internet.

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