A Democratic Advantage? Evaluating Media Use and Political Knowledge Across Information Regimes

• In Event: Comparing Political Communication: Cross-National Perspectives

Abstract

Scholars have long argued that one means by which media contribute to sustainable democratic governance in transitioning democracies is by providing more opportunity for citizens to learn about public affairs than media in more authoritarian regimes. Yet this claim has not been cross-nationally tested outside of Europe. We test this hypothesis by conducting a multilevel analysis of survey data from 17 African countries and find that citizens in more closed information regimes have significantly higher levels of political knowledge than citizens in more open information regimes. However, audiences within more open regimes gain more political knowledge from news media than do audiences in more authoritarian regimes, but not at a level sufficient to close the knowledge gap across regime types.

Authors

• Erik C. Nisbet, Ohio State U

• Elizabeth Stoycheff, Wayne State U

• Teresa Myers, George Mason U

• Golnoosh Behrouzian, Ohio State U