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Blogs as a Source of Democratic Deliberation

Blogs as a Source of Democratic Deliberation

Barbara K. Kaye, Thomas J. Johnson, Peter Muhlberger
ISBN13: 9781609607449|ISBN10: 1609607449|EISBN13: 9781609607456
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60960-744-9.ch001
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MLA

Kaye, Barbara K., et al. "Blogs as a Source of Democratic Deliberation." Blogging in the Global Society: Cultural, Political and Geographical Aspects, edited by Tatyana Dumova and Richard Fiordo, IGI Global, 2012, pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60960-744-9.ch001

APA

Kaye, B. K., Johnson, T. J., & Muhlberger, P. (2012). Blogs as a Source of Democratic Deliberation. In T. Dumova & R. Fiordo (Eds.), Blogging in the Global Society: Cultural, Political and Geographical Aspects (pp. 1-18). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60960-744-9.ch001

Chicago

Kaye, Barbara K., Thomas J. Johnson, and Peter Muhlberger. "Blogs as a Source of Democratic Deliberation." In Blogging in the Global Society: Cultural, Political and Geographical Aspects, edited by Tatyana Dumova and Richard Fiordo, 1-18. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2012. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60960-744-9.ch001

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Abstract

This chapter examines the deliberative potential of blogs and blog users. It investigates whether heavy reliance on blogs promotes positive characteristics—political efficacy, political interest, and political involvement—needed to foster democratic deliberation, or whether it leads to negative attributes—low trust, selective exposure, and political partisanship—that hinder democratic deliberation. Results show that unlike those who rarely rely on blogs, heavily dependent individuals are more involved in current events and are more trusting of the government, but they are also more likely to practice selective exposure by reading ideologically consistent blogs. Further, heavy reliance predicts involvement and selective exposure. The deliberative potential of blogs is boosted by users’ involvement in political issues but impeded by their propensity to seek out blogs that contain agreeable information. Instead of evolving into a public sphere, blogs may be becoming issue-oriented zones in which deliberation is limited to an ideological perspective.

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