The rise of social networks has proved to have a profound impact in politics. The Arab Spring highlighted the potential of social media to transform politics in nations long dominated by authoritarian rule.
To better understand the potential impact of social media on young Americans in participatory politics, scholars at Mills College and the University of Chicago have undertaken the Youth Participatory Survey Project, which produced a report that surveyed nearly 3,000 people in the U.S. between the ages of 15 and 25.
The survey revealed a number of major findings, some of which bucked traditional notions. For example, the digital divide is nearly non-existent. At least 94 percent of each racial and ethnic group reported having access to a computer that connects to the Internet. In addition, race and ethnicity do not seem to be major factors in determining who engages in participatory politics. The highest rate of engaging in participatory politics is Whites (43 percent), while the lowest is Asian Americans (36 percent), a small difference compared to the gap in voter turnout by race.
In addition, Dr. Joseph Kahne, co-principal Investigator on the project, explained that engaging in interest-driven online activities—like participating in online communities organized around hobbies or playing a video game—actions that weren’t explicitly political, are strongly related to whether or not youth got involved in the political process.
“We hypothesized that, in these spaces, young people are developing what we call ‘digital social capital’ where they’re learning norms, building networks and developing skills that relate to political life,” Kahne said.
Defining Participatory Politics
The study defines participatory politics as “interactive, peer-based acts through which individuals and groups seek to exert both voice and influence on issues of public concern. Importantly, these acts are not guided by deference to elites or formal institutions.” Examples of participatory politics include creating a political blog, sharing a news article on a social network, and signing a petition.
