Does Online Political Participation Reinforce Offline Political Participation?: Using Instrumental Variable

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether online political participation can predict the strengthening of offline political participation by using privacy concerns as an instrumental variable. Accordingly, the 2SLS analysis was applied using the Korea Media Panel Survey data of 2016 conducted by the Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI). As a result, age and ideological inclination were found to be more important factors in offline political participation than by socioeconomic status. In addition, the use of an instrumental variable to control the direction of causality indicates that online political participation reinforces offline political participation. As a result of habituated daily online activities, it is suggested that a new participatory group, especially low socioeconomic strata, may be mobilized due to the influence of online political participation. This research eliminating the possibility of two-way causality between online and offline political participation is meaningful in finding that online participation activities can reinforce offline political participation and that it is possible to mobilize the groups that were alienated from offline political participation.