Do Elections Help Reduce the Knowledge Gap? Evidence From the 2011 Presidential Campaign in Argentina

• In Event: Influencing the Vote

Abstract

This paper analyzes the relationship between interest in politics, attention to news media and acquisition of political information in Argentina, before and during the 2011 presidential campaign using a multi-method approach. A panel survey shows slight increases in political information from before the campaign to a few days before the election. Content analysis of news indicates that there had been a peak in coverage of public affairs news in general and campaign stories in particular two months prior to the general election due to the presidential primaries. Thus, at the height of the campaign, demographic factors diminished as predictors of political knowledge, while attention to news through various media continued to be significantly related to levels of information, which suggest that some elections, rather than media coverage, motivate citizens to pay more attention to their political environment.

Author

• Maria Eugenia Mitchelstein, U de San Andrs