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Abstract
A sizable body of empirical evidence indicates political conversation—both face-to-face and online—drives participatory engagement. Digital, social, and mobile media provide new avenues and tools for political talk, with affordances that may be particularly conducive to expression effects—that is, the impact of message production on the sender. This essay contends that an emphasis on deliberative democracy has limited attention to the psychological implications of political expression and creative production via information technologies and digital media.
Keywords Democracy, digital media, media effects
References
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Author biography
Dhavan V. Shah (PhD, University of Minnesota, 1999) is the Louis A. & Mary E. Maier-Bascom Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he is Director of the Mass Communication Research Center (MCRC) and Scientific Director in the Center for Health Enhancement System Studies (CHESS). His research focuses on communication influence on social perceptions and judgments, civic and political engagement, and health support and behavior
