Journal of Electoral Studies

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Home Issues Backissues Volume 31, No.1 Social Networks, Political Discussions, and Voting Participations

Social Networks, Political Discussions, and Voting Participations

Tsong-Jyi Lin
2007 / 11
Volume 14, No.2

pp.1-24
10.6612/tjes.2007.14.02.01-24

Abstract

In the argument of classic democratic theories, active political discussion is one of the motives for crafting democracy. By applying the data of 2004 TEDS, this study attempts to explore three questions: (1) who will be the major discussants when people urge advices? (2) how people discuss political issues within their social networks; (3) how political discussions affect voting participation. There are several findings. First, the social networks of the married people are based on family members, including spouse, parents, children, brothers, and sisters. In contrast, sources of the unmarried people's social networks are mainly from parents and friends. Second, the married people are more interested in discussing political issues than the unmarried people. This maybe due to the life cycle effect. According to the literature, the elder or married people will pay much attention to public affairs. In addition, most people are likely to choose their discussants who share consistent political opinions. Finally, the pressures or encouragements brought by political discussions impose significant effects on voting participation, although the extent of their influences depends on different cases. In conclusion, this study suggests that the data collected by panel studies are necessary for further research.

Keywords

social networks

political discussion

cross pressure

voting participation