The impact of political party support on interpersonal political discussion: survey evidence from two Chinese societies

This study examines whether and how political party support shapes interpersonal political discussion. Drawing upon existing research, party support is hypothesized to lead to more frequent political discussion and lower levels of disagreement within discussion networks. Party support is also hypoth...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Asian journal of communication 2014-03, Vol.24 (2), p.109-127
Main Authors: Lee, Francis L.F., Liu, Frank C.S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
China
Citizens
Consumption
Democracy
disagreement
Discussion
Hong Kong
Hong Kong, China
Networks
News
news consumption
Political activity
political discussion
Political Parties
political party support
Surveys
Taiwan
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Summary:This study examines whether and how political party support shapes interpersonal political discussion. Drawing upon existing research, party support is hypothesized to lead to more frequent political discussion and lower levels of disagreement within discussion networks. Party support is also hypothesized to moderate the relationship between news consumption and discussion frequency and the relationship between discussion frequency and disagreement. The analysis further explores if the impact of party support varies according to the parties being supported. The hypotheses and research question were examined using data from representative surveys conducted in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The findings illustrate the importance of political party support in structuring citizens' interpersonal political discussions in the consolidated democracy of Taiwan and, though to a lesser extent, in the semi-democratic environment of Hong Kong. In Taiwan, the impact of discussion frequencies on disagreement in discussion network varies according to the party being supported. Implications of the findings are discussed.
ISSN:0129-2986
1742-0911
DOI:10.1080/01292986.2013.827731