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INSTRUMENT laments about these definitions of the term, arguing that the term "has so many definitions and facets that any overlap in this myriad of definitions might actually be absent" (Yengoyan, 1989, p. 3). This slippery and ubiquitous nature perhaps led Baldwin et al. (2006) to note, "The definition of culture is a moving target, and those who choose to define it should ground their definitions in a fuller, multidisciplinary, and historicized accounting of the word" (p. 24). The following definitions give meaning to this "empty shell". According to Barnett (1988): Culture consists of the habits and tendencies to act in certain ways, but not the action themselves. It is the language patterns, values, attitudes, beliefs, customs, and thought patterns-not things or behaviors, but forms of things that people have in mind, in their models for perceiving, relating, and otherwise interpreting them. (p. 102) However, in this study, culture is operationalized following Kroeber and Kluckhohn's (1952) summarized definition-which is broader as it goes beyond the patterns of thought advanced by Barnett to include action and behavior: Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiment in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e., historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, on the other, as conditional elements of future action. (p. 181) Clearly, the definitions above converge on the idea that culture consists of something that is shared and/or learned by a group of people even though the content of its definitions vary. These shared convictions, values, beliefs, and skills have a significant impact on politics, especially on democratic institutions (Inglehart, 1988). Putnam (2000) also argues that politics (e.g., political participation) cannot be examined in isolation of the culture of the masses. Moreover, Putnam posits that the success or failure of democratic institutions reflects the degree to which a culture of trust and participation is present, the two key variables in this study. Culture influences the relationship between polity and society, hence the term political culture. Political culture, according to Inglehart (1988), varies from one society to another and is passed on from one generation to the next through a process called socialization. One of the prominent socializing agents is the mass media which are rich sources of information about the politics, current affairs, and the government. But the seminal question here is: Does the media consumption have any relationship with people's political attitudes and behaviors (political culture)? Past Research on Media Use and Political Attitudes and Behaviors A substantial body of research has documented the relationship and the effect of the mass media on the formation, change, and/o...

Competing theories have been put forward about the effect of Internet and social media use for news on political engagement. Some argue that Internet use for news reduces political engagement while others suggest that it increases political participation. Similar arguments have been advanced for the effects of social media use. This study tests both claims using representative data of over 2000 Kenyans. Bivariate results show that Internet and social media use for news has a positive relationship with political participation in Kenya. After controlling for demographic variables, political orientation variables, and traditional news use, digital media use (i.e., Internet and social media use for news) shows no significant associations with political participation in Kenya.