Analyzing the Factors Influencing Youth Political Participation through Digital Media: Focusing on the Role of Schools

• In Event: Conceptions of citizenship and participation

Proposal

Digital media plays a pivotal role in the political lives of modern citizens. Through digital platforms, individuals acquire information about political and social issues, engage in discussions, organize events, and express their views. Many social movements that have emerged since the 2010s—such as the Occupy Movement, March for Our Lives, and the MeToo movement—expanded into national movements due to the central role of digital media and social networking platforms (Mendes, Ringrose, & Keller, 2018; Penney & Dadas, 2014). Furthermore, digital media has become indispensable for government institutions and political parties, allowing them to engage with citizens on policy matters, gather public opinion, and respond to societal needs (Dimitrova, Shehata, Strömbäck, & Nord, 2014; Gibson & Ward, 2009).
Political participation through digital media is expected to intensify in the coming years. The continued advancement of digital platforms transcends the spatial and temporal barriers of political engagement, significantly lowering the psychological and technical thresholds for individuals to express their views and engage with political issues. This trend is especially apparent in younger generations, including Gen Z, who, as Digital Natives, inherently engage with and are naturally predisposed to participate via digital media.
Academic interest in the nature of political participation through digital media has evolved steadily and robustly over a considerable period. Early studies viewed digital media as a tool that supplements or enhances offline participation, focusing on how online engagement influences offline activities (Boulianne, 2020; Dimitrova, Shehata, Strömbäck, & Nord, 2014). These studies largely found that obtaining political information or discussing issues via digital platforms positively impacted offline political actions such as voting, donating, and participating in social movements.
More recently, scholars have begun to recognize digital media participation as a significant and autonomous form of political engagement, rather than merely a precursor to offline activities. This shift reflects not only the increasing ubiquity of online participation, facilitated by technological advancements, but also the growing number of cases where online activism alone has made a substantial societal impact without necessitating offline involvement. From this perspective, research has identified meaningful differences in the nature and driving factors of online participation compared to offline participation (Oser, Hooghe, & Marien, 2013; Theocharis, de Moor, & Van Deth, 2021). These findings underscore the importance of viewing online political engagement as a distinct and influential mode of participation in its own right.
This study aims to recognize political participation through digital media as a distinct form of engagement, separate from offline participation, and to explore the demographic and psychosocial factors that influence such participation among adolescents, who are anticipated to actively engage through this medium in the future. Specifically, the study will examine how various individual, school, and national-level factors impact the activities of adolescents who use digital media to gather information on political or social issues, create related content, or engage with others’ content.
First, the study will investigate whether demographic factors, such as low SES or immigrant backgrounds, which typically contribute to disparities in offline political participation, similarly affect digital political engagement. Given the high accessibility of digital media, it is expected that marginalized groups, historically excluded from traditional political processes, may experience expanded opportunities for participation. Therefore, the influence on digital participation may differ from that of offline engagement (Kaskazi & Kitzie, 2023; Oser, Hooghe, & Marien, 2013). However, some studies suggest that the nature of digital media could maintain or even exacerbate the political participation gap (Chan, 2020; Büchi & Vogler, 2017). This research will explore how these dynamics manifest among youth.
Additionally, the study will examine the effects of psychosocial variables, such as internal and external political efficacy and trust in institutions and government, on digital political participation. These factors have been identified as key drivers of political engagement among citizens, including youth (Gennaro & Dutton, 2006; Oser, Grinson, Boulianne, & Halperin, 2022). The research will explore the extent to which these variables influence adolescents' political engagement online.
The primary focus of this study is to examine school-related factors at both the individual and institutional levels, such as educational experiences related to political and social issues and the school's democratic atmosphere, which shape youth political participation and intent. While these factors have been shown to significantly influence offline political participation (Keating & Janmaat, 2016; Quintelier & Hooghe, 2013), their impact on digital political participation remains underexplored. Given the increasing importance of online political engagement for future generations, education—central to fostering young citizens—must adapt to these evolving dynamics. Thus, this study seeks to understand how schools influence youth political engagement through digital media and whether this influence can help bridge any potential gaps (if they exist) in digital political participation caused by the demographic variables identified earlier.
This study will utilize data from the IEA’s ICCS 2022 survey, which explores how students' civic competencies are related to their individual characteristics, school environments, and national contexts, with the goal of promoting democracy and civic engagement among youth (Schulz et al., 2023). ICCS 2022 specifically investigates various student- and school-level variables related to political participation through digital media, making it highly suitable for this research. The survey collected data from 22 countries, with approximately 150 schools sampled per country and one class selected per school. A three-level hierarchical model analysis will be conducted on this data to examine the effects of different factors. By doing so, the study aims to identify the factors that influence adolescents' political participation via digital media, recognizing them as Digital Natives and future key participants in societal engagement. Especially, the study seeks to provide concrete insights into how schools can design and implement educational programs that better foster and support this type of participation, thereby preparing students for active civic engagement in the digital age.

Author

• Dahyuk Kim, The University of Iowa