Testing the Internet's Effect on Democratic Satisfaction: A Multi-Methodological, Cross-National Approach

What’s the Bandwidth for Democracy? Deconstructing Internet Penetration and Citizen Attitudes About Governance

“…Previous research has shown that individuals' Internet use influences their demand for and satisfaction with democracy (Bailard, 2012a(Bailard, , 2012bLei, 2011;Nisbet & Stoycheff, 2013;Nisbet et al, 2012;Norris, 2011) because the Internet is distinct from the one-way Downloaded by [New York University] at 01:18 21 October 2014 communications of radio, television, and print media that provide information to an audience but are incapable of soliciting immediate feedback. The Internet is lauded as having great democratic potential because it allows for reciprocal flows of communication and encourages the development of "participant" citizens, as conceptualized by Almond and Verba (1963), who are interested in making demands from their governments rather than passive subjects who are acted upon (Howard, 2009;Fleming, 2002;Qi & Shin, 2011).…”

“…A globalized Internet also increases citizen demand for democracy through the process of "window-opening" (Bailard, 2012a(Bailard, , 2012b. By exposing citizens to information about how governments function in other countries, the Internet opens their windows to the world, showing citizens how participatory democracy works and the roles and responsibilities citizens elsewhere undertake.…”

“…Norris's (2011) findings show that regardless of how individuals conceptualize democracy-whether as free and fair elections, civil liberties, economic prosperity, or limitations on executive power (Dalton, Shin, & Jou, 2007)-Internet use makes citizens more critical of the supply of democracy in their countries. Bailard (2012aBailard ( , 2012b argues this relationship is explained through a process called "mirror-holding," wherein the Internet holds up a mirror that reflects a broad, diverse range of information that citizens' can employ to evaluate democracy in their countries. Compared to legacy media, the Internet provides a more comprehensive picture of information and allows for more accurate assessments of their government's democratic performance.…”

“…Most of the previous empirical work on this topic has concentrated on country-level analyses that examine how national levels of ICT penetration are associated with institutional assessments of democracy (e.g., Best & Wade, 2009;Groshek, 2009;Howard, 2009;Raghupathi & Wu, 2011;Shirazi, 2008), but a few recent studies (Bailard, 2012b;Nisbet et al, 2012) have begun to employ a multilevel lens, which allows scholars to theorize…”

“…In light of contemporary world events where new information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been credited for democratic advancements, cross-national research has begun to empirically explore the relationship between Internet penetration and democratic development (Bailard, 2012b;Best & Wade, 2009;Groshek, 2009;Howard, 2009;Shirazi, 2008). Scholars have theorized that greater Internet penetration, when coupled with individual Internet use, helps socialize citizens with democratic norms and creates a "demand for democracy" that facilitates democratic transitions from the bottom up (Nisbet, Stoycheff, & Pearce, 2012;Norris, 2011).…”