Effect of internet use on relationship between civic participation and political participation among low-income urban youth in Malaysia

The issue of youth civic and political participation has been a substantive area of interest in academic research because active citizenship is the bedrock of a healthy and functioning democracy. But democracies around the world are in poor health because their young citizens are no longer “activ...

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Main Author: Samsuddin, Jamali
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85364/1/FBMK%202020%2011%20ir.pdf
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spelling my-upm-ir.853642021-12-30T03:50:36Z Effect of internet use on relationship between civic participation and political participation among low-income urban youth in Malaysia 2019-12 Samsuddin, Jamali The issue of youth civic and political participation has been a substantive area of interest in academic research because active citizenship is the bedrock of a healthy and functioning democracy. But democracies around the world are in poor health because their young citizens are no longer “active.” Much evidence in this research area from the past decade has shown increasing detachment of young people from politics. Youth political apathy has become a global phenomenon that threatens to weaken democracies around the world, including Malaysia. The mobilization theory suggests that new communication technologies such as the Internet could increase participation, especially underprivileged group. Many past studies on the effect of Internet on youth’s democratic participation tend to treat young people as one homogeneous group, frequently sampled from the general youth population. However, not all youths have an equal access to opportunities to participate in nation-building activities. This study seeks new evidence in this area by focusing on youth living in low-income urban communities. It is important to focus on this particular segment of society as past studies have found that marginalization hindered their participation in social, political and economic processes. This quantitative study surveyed low-income urban youth to examine: (i) the level of their Internet use; (ii) the level of their political and civic participation; and (iii) the confounding effect of Internet use on the relationship between civic participation and political participation. A set of questionnaires were used as the instrument for data collection. The study employed a multistage sampling method, a combination of stratified random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. A total of 3,412 youths aged 15 to 25 years old living in urban poor areas throughout Malaysia completed the self-administered questionnaires. The results show that the level of their Internet use was low and still confined to basic activities. As anticipated, they rarely participated in political and civic activities; and there was a weak positive relationship between Internet use and participation. In addition, the observed relationship between civic participation and political participation was not merely due to the influence of Internet use. Political participation - Technological innovations - Case studies Public administration - Citizen participation - Technological innovations Urban youth - Research - Malaysia 2019-12 Thesis http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85364/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85364/1/FBMK%202020%2011%20ir.pdf text en public doctoral Universiti Putra Malaysia Political participation - Technological innovations - Case studies Public administration - Citizen participation - Technological innovations Urban youth - Research - Malaysia Hasan, Hamisah
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
collection PSAS Institutional Repository
language English
advisor Hasan, Hamisah
topic Political participation - Technological innovations - Case studies
Public administration - Citizen participation - Technological innovations
Urban youth - Research - Malaysia
spellingShingle Political participation - Technological innovations - Case studies
Public administration - Citizen participation - Technological innovations
Urban youth - Research - Malaysia
Samsuddin, Jamali
Effect of internet use on relationship between civic participation and political participation among low-income urban youth in Malaysia
description The issue of youth civic and political participation has been a substantive area of interest in academic research because active citizenship is the bedrock of a healthy and functioning democracy. But democracies around the world are in poor health because their young citizens are no longer “active.” Much evidence in this research area from the past decade has shown increasing detachment of young people from politics. Youth political apathy has become a global phenomenon that threatens to weaken democracies around the world, including Malaysia. The mobilization theory suggests that new communication technologies such as the Internet could increase participation, especially underprivileged group. Many past studies on the effect of Internet on youth’s democratic participation tend to treat young people as one homogeneous group, frequently sampled from the general youth population. However, not all youths have an equal access to opportunities to participate in nation-building activities. This study seeks new evidence in this area by focusing on youth living in low-income urban communities. It is important to focus on this particular segment of society as past studies have found that marginalization hindered their participation in social, political and economic processes. This quantitative study surveyed low-income urban youth to examine: (i) the level of their Internet use; (ii) the level of their political and civic participation; and (iii) the confounding effect of Internet use on the relationship between civic participation and political participation. A set of questionnaires were used as the instrument for data collection. The study employed a multistage sampling method, a combination of stratified random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. A total of 3,412 youths aged 15 to 25 years old living in urban poor areas throughout Malaysia completed the self-administered questionnaires. The results show that the level of their Internet use was low and still confined to basic activities. As anticipated, they rarely participated in political and civic activities; and there was a weak positive relationship between Internet use and participation. In addition, the observed relationship between civic participation and political participation was not merely due to the influence of Internet use.
format Thesis
qualification_level Doctorate
author Samsuddin, Jamali
author_facet Samsuddin, Jamali
author_sort Samsuddin, Jamali
title Effect of internet use on relationship between civic participation and political participation among low-income urban youth in Malaysia
title_short Effect of internet use on relationship between civic participation and political participation among low-income urban youth in Malaysia
title_full Effect of internet use on relationship between civic participation and political participation among low-income urban youth in Malaysia
title_fullStr Effect of internet use on relationship between civic participation and political participation among low-income urban youth in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Effect of internet use on relationship between civic participation and political participation among low-income urban youth in Malaysia
title_sort effect of internet use on relationship between civic participation and political participation among low-income urban youth in malaysia
granting_institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
publishDate 2019
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85364/1/FBMK%202020%2011%20ir.pdf
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