The effects of political news use, political discussion and authoritarian orientation on political participation: evidences from Singapore and Taiwan

Abstract

This article utilizes two national representative surveys to examine the roles of political news use, political discussion, and authoritarian orientation in shaping political participation in two democratizing societies: Singapore and Taiwan. The regression findings show that in both societies, the effects of political news use and political discussion have to be conditioned on the type of political participation as well as the nature of the political system. Both mass and interpersonal communications are confirmed to positively influence contact and campaign participation, to different degrees depending upon the political system. Interaction effects between the two communication variables are seen as well. The authoritarian orientation is found to mainly interact with communication factors to shape political participation. Implications regarding communication influences on political participation in societies where authoritarianism is evident are discussed.