Efficient Choice, Inefficient Democracy?

Title: Efficient Choice, Inefficient Democracy?

Research Question: How does access to cable and internet affect political knowledge and voter turnout, especially considering people's preferences for entertainment versus information?

Methodology: The study used data from two existing surveys, the National Election Studies (NES) and the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. It created a measure called Relative Entertainment Preference (REP) to determine whether people preferred news or entertainment content. The researchers then analyzed how cable and internet access, along with REP, affected political knowledge and voter turnout.

Results: The study found a significant interaction effect between media environment (cable and/or internet access) and motivation (REP) on political knowledge and turnout. People who preferred entertainment to news and had access to cable television and the internet were less knowledgeable and less likely to vote than any other group of people.

Implications: The research suggests that while increased access to information through cable and internet may not necessarily lead to better political knowledge, it can create a larger knowledge gap between the most informed and the least informed. This is due to the parallel increase of news and entertainment options, which allows users to avoid news more easily. The challenge is to predict who will indulge in news and who will ignore it. The study highlights the importance of content preferences in determining media exposure and its impact on political engagement.

Link to Article: https://arxiv.org/abs/0109110v1 Authors: arXiv ID: 0109110v1