The Online Socialization of Citizenship Norms and Political Participation of Youth

Abstract

This paper explores how specific uses of the Internet influence voting behavior through the fostering of dutiful or engaged norms of citizenship. Research on the changing nature of citizenship norms suggests that younger generations are more prone to adopt engaged or actualizing norms of citizenship rather than dutiful norms commonly associated with voting. We utilize a repeated cross-sectional design to compare five nationally representative post-election surveys from 2002 to 2010. Our findings show that using the Internet for dutiful activities predicts higher rates of participation in dutiful activities, such as voting, but using the Internet for engaged activities does not; these findings are most prevalent among the 18-to-30-year-old age group.

Keywords: Citizenship norms, online, political socialization, voting behavior