Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
Abstract
Political participation is a subject which has won an exclusive place in our society, specially after the Islamic Revolution. The importance is such that some parts of it, specially voting, have been constantly supported and emphasized by the political system and have been given a great deal of political propaganda. Meanwhile, mass media, as the most important society s political outlet, can play a desicive role in increasing and decreasing the rate of such participation. Based on these facts, a research was done with the purpose of scrutinizing the effect of mass media on political participation rate in Iran. In order to do so, a 430 case samples out of the statistical society of Tehran - 19 onwards - were chosen and necessary data was collected and analyzed through a questionnaire. The result of this study showed that in a long term basis mass media affects indirectly on political participation through factors such as political culture, political efficacy and political stimuli. In addition, the effectiveness of each of the media (TV,Radio, Newspaper & ) was different and in some cases, their effectiveness direction is different as well. To the point of the encourage, the participation in political activities and some others encourage political apathy.
Keywords
)