Digital media and the participation of rural dwellers in politics - a case study of central senatorial district in Cross River State - Nigeria

Abstract

This study focuses on digital media and the participation of rural dwellers in politics. The emergence of digital media has largely challenged what used to be the hegemony of traditional media. It has also been responsible for the now increased participation of rural dwellers in politics. The current study tried to establish this relationship between the emergence of digital media and increased participation of rural dwellers in politics. While doing this, the study makes use of the Public Sphere Theory as its theoretical framework and in the version propounded by the German Scholar, Jurgen Habermas in 1962. The relevance of the theory to this work is that it seeks to explain how members of the public become active participants in the political life. A survey design was adopted which elicited data from 190 respondents, cutting across three rural settlements in the Central Senatorial Districts of Cross River State, Nigeria. The purposive sampling technique was employed, and the findings suggested that there is a phenomenal rise in political participation among rural dwellers following the advent of digital media. This has, in the view of this study, given birth to a new political culture, "Rural participants’ political culture", (RPPC). Consequent upon this, the study recommended the continuous engagement of digital media in the entire body of the nation's politics.

Keywords: Digital media, rural dwellers, political participation