Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Politics & Policy
Abstract
This research examines the effect that information and communications technology, via social media, had on peoples' confidence in American democratic processes. Using a large N dataset, this work finds that use of social networking sites (SNS) had a negligible effect on voter confidence. This finding is surprising given President Trump's ubiquitous online presence and his role in pushing conspiracies about electoral fraud in the 2020 presidential election. I go on to examine how respondents' sentiment toward President Trump affected the trust they had in American democratic institutions. This study finds that political elites can serve as a more powerful influence on their constituents than do the effects of social media usage. SNS will continue to pose a unique challenge to American democracy as for-profit corporations continue to develop online platforms that compel engagement by offering salacious content that feeds into users' biases.
First Page
942
Last Page
951
DOI
doi.org/10.1111/polp.12494
Publication Date
2022
Recommended Citation
Aguado, Noe Alexander, "When charismatic leadership trumps social networking: Searching for the effects of social media on beliefs of electoral legitimacy" (2022). Politics, Justice, Law, and Philosophy. 12.
https://roar.una.edu/politicsjusticelawphilosophy/12
