Lauri Rapeli

Determinants of Political Knowledge: The Effects of the Media on Knowledge and Information

Abstract The media, newspapers especially, has in several studies been associated with high levels of political knowledge. Those whose preferred source of political information is newspapers show higher levels of political knowledge compared with those who prefer other information sources. In this article we claim that studying the effects of media on political knowledge is not a meaningful exercise unless a differentiation between structural knowledge and political information is made. The results of the analysis carried out in this article support this argument. Newspaper readership seems to have a moderate impact on political information but not on structural political knowledge. In general, mass media loses most of its relative importance as a predictor when political interest, age, education and gender are included. The results suggest that if we do not differentiate between different types of knowledge when measuring political knowledge, we lose a useful discriminant.

The conception of citizen knowledge in democratic theory

1. Introduction 2. Democratic theory and political knowledge 3. The empirical study of political knowledge 4. Linking together theory and practice: a framework for evaluating political knowledge 5. Discussion

In sickness and in health.

Abstract. n In search of a better understanding of inequalities in citizen political engagement, scholars have begun addressing the relationship between personal health and patterns of political behavior. This study focuses on the impact of personal health on various forms of political participation. The analysis contributes to existing knowledge by examining a number of different participation forms beyond just voting. Using European Social Survey data from 2012/2013 for Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden (N = 8,060), self-reported turnout and six alternative modes of political engagement were modeled as dependent variables. Contrary to expectations, poor health did not depress participation across all forms. As assumed by the increased activism hypothesis, all else equal, people with poor health were more active than their healthy counterparts in direct contacts with power holders and demonstrations. The results reveal a “reversed health gap” by showing that people with health problems are in fact more politically active than what previous research, which has focused on voting, has suggested. Although the magnitude of the gap should not be overdramatized, our results stress the importance of distinguishing between different forms of participation when analyzing the impact of health on political engagement. Nevertheless, the findings show that poor health can stimulate people into political engagement rather than depressing activity. This finding holds when the effects of several sociodemographic and motivational factors are controlled for.

Review of The Internet Generation: Engaged Citizens or Political Dropouts

There is a deficit in the Western democracies of our time: The younger generations vote less eagerly than their elders and this is not being compensated by their being politically active in other ways. Therefore, the total amount of political participation continuously diminishes. What can we do about it now that especially the United States and Canada lag behind Europe, and especially Scandinavia, in terms of youth political participation? Building on his previous work Henry Milner compares North America and Scandinavia, the two areas he is quite familiar with, and examines the effects of individual and aggregate level factors on youth political participation. He targets the so called Internet generation: those young citizens who reached adulthood after the 1990s. This generation is seen as unique in terms of its relationship to politics. Its interaction with the surrounding world has always been defined by an unprecedented speed of technological progress. One of Milner’s key assertions is that structural factors such as party and electoral systems are the key to understanding how patterns of political participation develop among young people. According to Milner, various societal interests are integrated more effectively into political decision making through the combination of multiparty systems and proportional electoral systems. These are also typical of the political systems in Scandinavia where, as expected, the youth are more active politically. These institutions enhance political participation of young people because they create a situation where making sense of politics is not only easier but also more relevant. Milner makes his case convincingly when he argues in favor of proportional representation, a somewhat unfamiliar concept for North Americans. In the final part, Milner explores recent studies to see whether and how the youth could be activated with the help of schools. He presents his recipe for increased informed political participation. The message is that civic courses should be taught right before students reach voting age and that the focus should be on developing habits that foster attentiveness to politics.