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Article
Political Engagement through Debates: Young Citizens’ Reactions to the 2004 Presidential Debates
American Behavioral Scientist
  • Mitchell S. McKinney, University of Missouri - Columbia
  • Sumana Chattopadhyay, Marquette University
Document Type
Article
Language
eng
Format of Original
19 p.
Publication Date
5-1-2007
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Original Item ID
doi: 10.1177/0002764207300050
Disciplines
Abstract

This study examines how exposure to a televised debate affects young citizens’ normative democratic tendencies, attitudes that have been linked to increased civic and political participation, including voting behavior. The authors also are interested in the confidence young citizens express in the political knowledge they possess—their political information efficacy—and specifically how confidence in one’s knowledge may be affected by exposure to such a sustained and “information-rich” source of campaign information as a 90-minute candidate debate. Findings reveal that debates strengthen, at least in the short term, democratic attitudes and also strengthen young citizens’ levels of political information efficacy.

Comments

Accepted version. American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 50, No. 9 (May 2007): 1093-1111. DOI. © 2007 SAGE Publications. Used with permission.

Citation Information
Mitchell S. McKinney and Sumana Chattopadhyay. "Political Engagement through Debates: Young Citizens’ Reactions to the 2004 Presidential Debates" American Behavioral Scientist (2007) ISSN: 0002-7642
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/sumana_chattopadhyay/2/