Rational Ignorance in the Digital Age - A Meta-Analysis
Rational Ignorance in the Digital Age - A Meta-Analysis
The rise of the internet and the easy access to information is often seen as a chance for citizen involvement and information. In this perspective, democracies should benefit as well from more mature voters with a better information basis for their voting decision which in turn should foster political decision making based on a high level of information. Anecdotal information does not support this optimistic view in every respect. Currently, European democracies experience a rise of populist parties who often benefit from limited and biased information. In addition, in many countries political participation including voting turnout is significantly lower in the age cohorts of the digital natives compared to older generations of digital analphabets. Given this controversy, the meta-analysis will screen and condense what the empirical literature reveals about the link between digitalization on the one hand and voter information and participation on the other hand.