Voting in the echo chamber?

• Verfasst von: Ackermann, Kathrin [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Stadelmann-Steffen, Isabelle [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: Voting in the echo chamber?
• Titelzusatz: Patterns of political online activities and voting behavior in Switzerland
• Verf.angabe: Kathrin Ackermann, Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen
• E-Jahr: 2022
• Jahr: 28 January 2022
• Umfang: 24 S.
• Fussnoten: Gesehen am 02.02.2022
• Titel Quelle: Enthalten in: Swiss political science review
• Ort Quelle: Hoboken, NJ [u.a.] : Wiley, 1995
• Jahr Quelle: 2022
• Band/Heft Quelle: (2022), Early view, Seite 1-24, 24 Seiten
• ISSN Quelle: 1662-6370
• DOI: doi:10.1111/spsr.12498
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• Sach-SW: Internet
• Sach-SW: online activism
• Sach-SW: political behavior
• Sach-SW: social media
• Sach-SW: vote splitting
• K10plus-PPN: 1788353633
• K10plus-PPN:
  Universitätsbibliothek
• Lokale URL UB: Zum Volltext

Abstract

Understanding the political consequences of digitalization is among the key challenges for modern societies. A pressing issue is the question whether political online activities make individuals more close-minded and less willing to consider alternative arguments. We examine this question using a peculiarity of the Swiss electoral system - the possibility to split votes - as a behavioral outcome measure. We argue that political online activities might either make individuals less likely to split votes (“echo chamber”-argument) or more likely to spread their votes across parties (“deliberation”-argument). Empirically, we use data from the Swiss Election Study Selects 2019 to test these arguments. The results of a hierarchical logistic regression analysis do not support any of the conflicting arguments. Yet, additional analyses suggest that political interest moderates the relationship between online activities and vote splitting: political interest makes online activists more likely to split votes.