ABSTRACT

We investigate the often-stated, but disputed claim in the political science and political communication literature that increasing media choice widens inequalities in political knowledge. The assumption is that in a high-choice media environment, the politically interested will consume more news while the uninterested will avoid such content, leading, in turn, to widening differences in political knowledge. Although previous studies show that high media choice increases political knowledge gaps in the United States, comparative longitudinal evidence is currently lacking. To fill this gap, we draw on data from four rounds of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems. Overall, we do not find general support for the high-choice knowledge gap thesis. In most countries, there is no indication that inequality in political knowledge has increased over time. Building on recent insights from political communication research, we question key assumptions of the high choice knowledge gap thesis.

摘要

我们调查了政治科学和政治传播文献中经常提到但有争议的说法，即增加媒体选择会扩大政治知识方面的不平等。假设是在高选择的媒体环境中，对政治感兴趣的人会消费更多的新闻，而不感兴趣的人会避免此类内容，进而导致政治知识差异的扩大。尽管先前的研究表明，高媒体选择增加了美国的政治知识差距，但目前缺乏比较的纵向证据。为了填补这一空白，我们利用了四轮选举制度比较研究的数据。总的来说，我们没有找到对高选择知识差距论文的普遍支持。在大多数国家，没有迹象表明政治知识方面的不平等随着时间的推移而加剧。基于政治传播研究的最新见解，我们质疑高选择知识差距论文的关键假设。