Original scientific paper

DETERMINANTS OF ONLINE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN CROATIA

Michael BOŠNJAK orcid.org/0000-0002-1431-8461 ; School of Economics and Management, Bozen-Bolzano
Mirta GALEŠIĆ ; Faculty of Philosophy, Zagreb
Božidar KLIČEK ; Faculty of Organization and Informatics, Varaždin

Abstract

In this paper we study variables associated with online political
participation in Croatia from two perspectives. First, we explain
past online political participation using variables implied as
important by sociological and political research literatures.
Among them are sociodemographic characteristics, political
values, past participation in offline political activities, and
Internet usage variables. While all these factors were
substantially correlated with the past online political
participation, political values and past offline political
participation were its most important determinants. Second, we
study the propensity for future online political participation
using an extended version of Ajzen’s theory of planned
behavior. The determinants of online political participation
within this model are attitude toward participating, internalized
social pressure, perceived behavioral control, and moral
obligation. Three variables – attitudes, internalized social
pressure, and moral obligation – contributed almost equally to
the predictive power of the model, covering almost a 50%
share of variance in the propensity for online political
participation. By including past online political participation,
the predictive power was further increased to a 65% share of
explained variance. A number of open questions remain,
pointing to several avenues for future research.

Keywords

political participation; e-democracy; online research

Hrčak ID:

29458

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/29458

Publication date:

31.10.2008.

Article data in other languages: croatian german

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