How Communication Technologies Function as Platforms and Pathways to Civic and Political Engagement: An Agenda for Research and Public Policy

How Communication Technologies Function as Platforms and Pathways to Civic and Political Engagement: An Agenda for Research and Public Policy

Christopher McCarthy-Latimer, J. Richard Kendrick, Jr.
Copyright: © 2016 |Pages: 23
DOI: 10.4018/IJCESC.2016010104
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Abstract

This paper is an assessment of what we know empirically about how communication technologies are being used by young people (typically defined as those between the ages of 18 and 29) as both platforms and pathways for civic and political engagement. An overview of existing research is utilized as the basis for this investigation. Research on this topic is limited in several ways, including its failure to acknowledge the distinction between individuals who are engaged merely by using communication technologies (technology as a platform for participation) versus those who are engaged beyond the exclusive use of communication technologies (technology as a pathway for participation). Understanding this distinction can better enable scholars, policy-makers, and practitioners to develop inclusive strategies for engaging young people. The authors' analysis reveals that recent research demonstrates that new technologies can serve as both platforms and pathways for civic and political engagement, and, with this distinction in mind, they provide recommendations to policy- and decision-makers and scholars interested in this issue.
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Background

There is general agreement that the unprecedented growth in society’s use of communication technologies has the potential to transform our civic and political existence (Kruikemeier et al., 2014; Lynch, 2011; Polat, 2005), but few researchers agree about the nature of this change (Davis, 2005; Kruikemeier, 2014; Towner, 2013).

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