Modernisation, Digital Media

Spread, and the Young’s Powerless

Political Participation in South

America

Jéssica Duarte

Carla Mendonça

Abstract

This article reports a longitudinal study on South American young people’s

democratic attitudes and political participation along with the growth of

digital media use in the region. We tested the association between their

democratic values and political behaviour since the 1980s and increasing

access to digital media since the 1990s. The forty years of the World Values

Jéssica Duarte is a doctor in Political Science and a post-doctoral scholar at Federal Uni-

versity of Pernambuco (UFPE). She is a member of the World Values Survey (WVS) and of

the project EL22 of NUPRI-USP/Imakay Research Hub. Her work explores political beha-

viour focused on conservatism and misinformation.

Carla Mendonça is a doctor in Social Sciences specialised in Comparative Studies on the

Americas and a bachelor’s in Communication Sciences. She is a collaborating researcher

at the Electoral Communication Research Group (CEL) at the Postgraduate Programme in

Communication of the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), and she was a World Values

Survey (WVS) post-doctoral scholar in 2017-2018 and in 2020-2021

Código de referato: SP.302.LVI/22

http://dx.doi.org/10.22529/sp.2022.56.03

STUDIA POLITICÆ Número 56 otoño 2022 pág. 35–65

Recibido: 30/05/2022 | Aceptado: 03/09/2022

Publicada por la Facultad de Ciencia Política y Relaciones Internacionales

de la Universidad Católica de Córdoba, Córdoba, República Argentina.

36 STUDIA POLITICÆ Nº 56 otoño 2022

Survey (WVS) database were analysed. We found that young people in Ar-

gentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay have not be-

come more democratic and show stable low levels of political participation

along with increasing socio-economic development index rates and digital

media spread in their countries.

Key words: democratic attitudes - political participation - digital media -

South America young people - WVS

Resumen

Este artículo presenta un estudio longitudinal sobre las actitudes democráti-

cas y la participación política de los jóvenes sudamericanos a lo largo del

proceso de crecimiento del uso de los medios digitales en la región. Se ha

probado la asociación entre sus valores democráticos y su comportamiento

político desde la década de 1980 y el creciente acceso a los medios digi-

tales desde la década de 1990. Se analizaron los cuarenta años de la base

de datos de la Encuesta Mundial de Valores (WVS). Identicamos que los

jóvenes de Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú y Uruguay

no se han vuelto más democráticos y muestran niveles bajos y estables de

participación política a lo largo del aumento de los índices de desarrollo

socioeconómico y la difusión de los medios digitales en sus países.

Palabras clave: actitudes democráticas - participación política - medios de

comunicación digitales - jóvenes de América del Sur - WVS

Introduction

re young South Americans becoming more democratic and po-

litically participative along with the popularization of digital

media?

The rise of the internet, in the early 1990s, and of social media, in the early

2000s, besides mobile phones, brought about quite optimistic perspectives

on new possibilities of participative democracy worldwide, especially for the

young. Scholars, policymakers, and social movements, among other social

actors, envisioned new possibilities for democracies coming along with the

spread of a new techno-social system that comprises social processes of cog

nition, communication, and cooperation, in Fuchs’s (2017) critical concept

of social media.

This is a well-developed and consolidated discussion indeed, but still far

from being closed. Other authors also argue that the internet and social media

JÉSSICA DUARTE Y CARLA MENDONÇA 37

are harming democracy by facilitating the formation of ideologic bubbles,

hate speech, and the creation and spread of fake news (Morelock & Narita,

2021; Bradshaw & Howard, 2019; Bartlett, 2014).

In this paper, we analyse this phenomenon from the Modernisation Theo

ry approach. This theoretical perspective assesses whether economic, so-

cial, and technological advances have led to the advance of democratization

worldwide. Inglehart (2008) argues that modernisation and economic devel-

opment produce cultural changes toward democratic values and self-expres-

sion. He also states that intergenerational value change will occur if younger

generations grow up under different living conditions than those that shaped

older generations.

Within this perspective, we chose to study the relations between digital me

dia popularisation with young people’s democratic attitudes and political

behaviour because this cohort has been strongly impacted by this societal

material change during their years of formation as citizens.

We will focus on South American cases. We understand that increasing inter

net access in the region should contribute to democracy since it is an import-

ant material resource in our contemporary societies. Internet access should

facilitate people’s access to information.

South America is an important case study due to its complexity. The region

takes in contrasting socio-economic development dynamics: enduringly in

creasing development indexes rates, such as literacy, per capita income, and

human development, come along with remaining poverty, social inequality,

and high crime levels among other social, political, and economic issues.

Young people’s disposition for political participation through unconvention

al means has been studied worldwide at least since the 1960s (Brussino et al.,

2009). In this twenty-rst century, the internet and social media are expected

to give them new opportunities (Herrera, 2012; Cohen & Kahne, 2012; Ben-

nett et al., 2011).

Pérez Islas (2006) traced the history of the investigation of youth in Latin

America and acknowledges the relevance of Cecilia Braslavsky (1987)’s work.

She identied three rst phases: The rst one consists of essays written from

1930 to 1960. The second one, between 1960 and 1980, was carried out under

a sociological approach predominance and introduced the study of youth as

either citizenship or stratication categories. The third one, from 1982 to 1986,

was regarded as the creation of the International Youth Day, and it included

young people’s political participation in the agenda (Pérez Islas, 2006).

38 STUDIA POLITICÆ Nº 56 otoño 2022

Arias-Cardona and Alvarado (2015) conducted a literature review on the the-

me aiming to group studies by theoretical similarities. The authors found

three main theoretical perspectives: the bio-psycho developmental, the so

cio-historic and the political-cultural. The authors also gure out that many

studies concluded that young people’s relationship with politics requires

transcending the focus on conventional participation because they have ne

gative points of view in relation to it.

In South America, scholars have researched young people’s political partici

pation at local, regional, and national levels. Zarzuri (2010) identied that,

among young Chileans, more than disenchantment with politics, there is a

disenchantment with a certain way that politics are made. The author found

that rules imposed by the State, such as compulsory voting, do not lead to

young people’s more active participation.

In Brazil, Baquero (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019) studied political culture,

political values, citizenship, political socialization and the internet and new

media, especially among young people in southern Brazil. There is a crisis of

political mediation expressed in an increasing withdrawal of young people

from conventional political mechanisms due to their disillusionment with

politics (Baquero & Baquero, 2012).

With this study, we intend to contribute to the discussion on South American

young people’s political participation from a political-cultural perspective.

We ask whether cultural change toward more democratic attitudes and poli

tical participation will be associated with digital media use spread. We aim

to comprehend whether the results corroborate the thesis of economic de-

velopment followed by democratic values spread, or whether young South

Americans raise a different explanatory model. We do not suggest any causal

relation, we are concerned about whether there is any association or predic-

tion capacity.

Our hypotheses propose that: 1) the growing use of digital media by young

South Americans is associated with changes in their political attitudes and

behaviours, and 2) the increasing use of digital media by young South Ame

ricans comes along with more democratic attitudes and stronger political

participation.

We follow the UNDESA (2013)’s denition of youth, which “for statistical

purposes, denes ‘youth’, as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24

years, without prejudice to other denitions by the Member States” (p. 1).

This denition is underpinned and enclosed by Niemi and Hepburn (1995)’s

JÉSSICA DUARTE Y CARLA MENDONÇA 39

understanding. They state that the political socialization process is faster and

deeper throughout the period between 14 and 25 years old.

Thus, this article reports a longitudinal study, within which some statistical

tests, using data from the forty years of the WVS collected in countries of the

region in its seven waves. We chose to select all WVS waves aiming at mo

nitoring and comparing results among the different periods of the continent’s

economic and digital development.

We analyse data from individuals within the cohort of sixteen to twenty-four

years old from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay,

Bolivia, and Venezuela due to two main reasons: one theoretically based, and

the other due to empirical criteria and research limitations.

Theoretically, we chose cases according to Mill (1886)’s method of diffe

rence and recognise that our cases are different from each other, but they

have common conditions for a possible phenomenon occurrence. Our cases

are different regarding democratic development and consolidation, but they

share structural aspects. Those are region, history, and recent economic de-

velopment.

Empirically, these are all the South American countries included in the World

Values Survey (WVS) database that have longitudinal data for this study’s

important variables. The WVS also only interviews individuals aged sixteen

and over.

1. Literature review

Inglehart and Welzel (2009) state that values change from generation to ge

neration reects historical changes in the existential conditions of a speci-

c society. Inglehart (2008)’s thesis on modernisation, cultural change, and

democratic values is underpinned by two main hypotheses: 1) the scarcity

hypothesis implies that prolonged periods of high prosperity will tend to en-

courage the spread of postmaterialist and self-expression values – and that

enduring economic decline will have the opposite effect, and 2) “the socia-

lization hypothesis which proposes generations maintain values developed

during their adolescent years” (Graaf & Evans, 1996, p. 609). In this sen-

se, Graaf and Evans (1996) highlight that this thesis tackles both individual

(needs and values) and societal (economic development) explanation levels.

In their formative years, individuals tend to adopt values consistent with their

own experiences. This gradual process occurs as a younger generation repla

40 STUDIA POLITICÆ Nº 56 otoño 2022

ces the previous one in the adult population of a society, through an interge-

nerational change of values. Inglehart (2008)’s cohorts and intergenerational

studies point to a gradual process of intergenerational value change asso

ciated with socioeconomic development. Increasingly favourable existential

conditions of security and individual autonomy tend to make people value

self-expression (Inglehart & Welzel, 2009).

A major component of the rise of self-expression values is a shift away from

deference to all forms of external authority. Under threat of invasion, internal

disorder or economic collapse, people eagerly seek strong authority gures

that can protect them from danger. Conversely, conditions of prosperity and

security are conducive to the tolerance of diversity in general and major su

pport of democracy (Inglehart, 2008).

According to Graaf and Evans (1996):

In addition to these changes in values, it is proposed that because of the

expansion of higher education and the increasingly pervasive contribution

of the mass media more people have acquired the knowledge and oppor-

tunity to engage with political issues on a national scale. It is thus argued

that changing political values and increasing political sophistication are in

the process of altering the nature of politics by creating new, value-based

cleavages that crosscut the old ‘Left-Right’ conicts over the distribution

of material resources. (p. 609)

Inglehart (2008) states that gradual shifts from materialist to postmaterialist

values, when younger birth cohorts replace older ones in the adult popula-

tion, have important implications on orientations onto political participation

and freedom of expression, support for new causes and new types of political

parties.

Thus, an intergenerational change associated with cultural changes, promo

ted by increasing levels of existential security, has implications for political

change and tends to produce growing support for democracy.

Grasso (2014) criticises the societal modernisation account, saying it will not

locate generational differences in attitudes towards participation in different

politic-historical socialization contexts for different cohorts. From that point

of view, “certain generations are more likely to engage in specic political

acts than other generations based on the relative importance of different re

pertoires of participation in the historical periods in which individuals have

spent the majority of their formative years” (Grasso, 2014, p. 64).

JÉSSICA DUARTE Y CARLA MENDONÇA 41

Does this thesis on the processes that dene participatory behaviour and atti-

tudes towards democracy nd an empirical basis in South America’s socioe-

conomic development indexes and digital media spread, especially among

those who have lived their youth years in the last thirty years?

Modernisation Theory can offer great applicability and relevance to this sub

ject matter. However, as previously mentioned, there are alternative explana-

tions. While according to this theoretical approach studying Latin American

young people’s political behaviour can help us to estimate the future environ-

ment for democratic behaviour, the region presents important contradictions

in its socio-economic context, such as the concomitance between economic

development indexes and remaining poverty, inequality, crime levels, and

media monopoly.

1.1 Political participation, the young, and digital media

Almond and Verba (1989) point out that the central issue of politics in the

late twentieth and early twentieth-rst centuries is what cultural content is

emerging around the world. The authors state that Western culture is appa

rently spreading rapidly along with the technology through which it ows.

However, they believe that the problem in the content of this emerging cul

ture is its political character because although the movement toward techno-

logy and rationality appears uniform throughout the world, the path political

change is taking is less clear. The authors identify participation as one aspect

of this new political culture, but “[…] what the mode of participation will be

is uncertain” (Almond & Verba, 1989, p. 3).

Political participation is any activity that seeks to inuence the political de

cision-making process directly or indirectly (Kaase & Marsh, 1979). Con-

ventional political participation is performed, in this matter, by voting, par-

ty afliation and participation in political campaigns (Verba & Nie, 1987).

Unconventional ones occur through political actions that seek to interfere in

politics through non-institutionalized means (Van der Meer et al., 2009), like

participating in political and social movements, signing petitions, engaging

in debates through social media etc.

Until the early 1960s, the concept of political participation circumscribed

voting, campaigning and contact between citizens and public ofcials. In the

late 1960s and early 1970s, it was expanded to include community groups;

direct contacts between citizens, public ofcials, and politicians; protest for

ms; and new social movements. In the 1990s, civil activities, such as volun-

42 STUDIA POLITICÆ Nº 56 otoño 2022

teering and social engagement, were included. Nowadays, ethical consumer

practices have become part of political action (Quintelier & Van Deth, 2014).

“[…] fed through processes of educational enhancement and value change,

the emergence of direct action and its organisational crystallization in the

so-called New Social Movements […] could be interpreted as an extension

of the action repertory of the citizenry”, states Kaase (2010, p. 542).

Cohen and Kahne (2012) propose a new concept of participatory politics

at the beginning of this twenty-rst century. It is one based on peer group

interaction through which individuals and groups seek to exercise their voice

and inuence matters of public interest using digital media tools. Starting an

online political group, writing, and disseminating a post about politics on a

blog, or sharing a video with political content are examples of it.

Quintelier and Van Deth (2014) found that “interest in political affairs, fee

ling of being politically efcacious, political condence and support for nor-

ms and values promoting democratic attitudes lead to an increase in political

participation” (p. 155).

1.2 Young people and political participation

Older generations pass on their values to younger ones; individual basic va

lues reect the most important conditions of living before adulthood, and

early socialization tends to be more rigid than late ones. This cultural herita-

ge does not dissipate easily, but it can gradually disappear if it is incoherent

with individual experience (Inglehart & Welzel, 2009).

Family, school, groups of friends, media and events are prominent agencies

in the political socialization of young people. Among other issues, they pro

vide the potential for change in political attitudes from one generation to the

next, say Niemi and Sobieszek (1977).

Mannheim (1928) argues that young people experiencing the same concrete

historical problems may be said to be part of the same generation. These ex

periences crystallise, differentiate generations in the population, and endure

constantly through the life cycles. Thus, historic periods of socialization onto

cohorts are expected to have effects on political attitudes and behaviours of

distinct political generations (Grasso, 2014).

Bennett et al. (2011) stress that the passive culture promoted by television

and the decline of communitarian associations might have led to a genera

tional apathy toward politics and public life, and new forms of online civic

JÉSSICA DUARTE Y CARLA MENDONÇA 43

action cannot reverse it. However, this new digital generation seems to pro-

mote new forms of engagement. Thus, Bennett et al. (2011) suggest that the

passive culture accounts for a fragmentation of the old civic order, but social

media can enable civic practices back into political action.

Baquero and Baquero (2012) point out that while formal democracy is stren

gthened, there is a crisis of political mediation that is expressed in the increa-

sing withdrawal of young people from conventional political mechanisms

due to their disillusionment with politics.

However, that does not mean that young people are absent from informal

channels of participation. Putnam (2001) argues that “[…] the younger ge

neration today is no less engaged than their predecessor but engaged in new

ways” (p. 21). Krischke (2004) also says young people have not fallen into

political apathy but have been investing their political energy in informal

channels of political participation.

Castro (2009) states that the decline of conventional participation is related

to changes in values because the new generations no longer welcome hie

rarchical and bureaucratic organisations and prefer unconventional political

experiences.

Agudelo-Ramírez et al. (2013) point to the invisibility of young people’s me

aningful actions in the diverse spaces and contexts of their daily lives. They

enjoy different forms of participation, relationships and communications;

collective building; and political understanding. They want to create new

meanings for the public sphere, representing themselves as political subjects

and exercising citizenship in places such as family, groups, community, orga-

nizations, universities, and social activities (Agudelo-Ramírez et al., 2013).

Agudelo-Ramírez et al. (2013) claim that young people re-politicise politics

from the outside. They engage in participation through formal mechanisms,

resignifying concepts and values of such practices since they use them preci

sely to transform them. They participate in student representation practices,

municipal youth councils, local organizations, and in systematic election mo-

nitoring initiatives.

They also participate in social networks for political purposes, use infor

mation technology as a tool for participation, re-appropriate aesthetic ele-

ments as a possibility for other manifestations, and incorporate what visual

art offers them to promote other ways of life. From the place where mainly

cultural elements play, daily participation with a growing voluntary character

is intensied (Agudelo-Ramírez et al., 2013, p. 595).

44 STUDIA POLITICÆ Nº 56 otoño 2022

Muñoz (2012) states that, whether twentieth-century youth cultures had ari-

sen in the post-second world war, in the twenty-rst century, they rise under

information and communication technologies. The passage from youth cul

tures to cybercultures is a novelty intimately related to an era change and to

the interactive digital culture inuence on young people’s worlds. Their ways

of life are built in environments of multiple convergences.

Arias-Cardona and Alvarado (2015) emphasize that information and com

munication technologies became mediators of political processes. Technolo-

gy has made it possible for young people to become involved in new ways in

decisions that are made in their contexts.

Thus, young people’s participation ways are multidimensional, reect diver

se causes and efforts, both individual and collective, and are characterized

by multifaceted leadership. They participate in a heterogeneous way, signify

traditional practices, and seize upon cultural elements and markets to wave

diverse political manifestations. It reects complex forms in which young

people inhabit public spaces and are congured as citizens (Agudelo-Ra-

mírez et al., 2013).

Vaccari and Valeriani (2021) argue that “social media are part of the reason

why Western democracies are witnessing an increase in different forms of

political participation, some of which involve citizens who were previously

not deeply engaged in public affairs” (p. 3).

However, Fuchs (2017) criticises scholars’ concepts that “highlight positive

aspects of social media and point out that these media are possible to make

culture and society more democratic” (p. 66). He stresses that “an Internet

that is dominated by corporations that accumulate capital by exploiting and

commodifying users can never, in the theory of participatory democracy, be

participatory and the cultural expressions of it cannot be expressions of par

ticipation” (Fuchs, 2017, p. 82).

1.3 South American development since the 1980s

Latin America has experienced important economic, political, and social

changes in the twenty-rst century (Baquero, 2011). To identify these chan

ges, we present some indexes of social development in South America since

the 1980s.

Online analysis can be run at DataBank | World Development Indicators available at

https://databank.worldbank.org/home.

JÉSSICA DUARTE Y CARLA MENDONÇA 45

The rst indicator analyses adult literacy rates, dened by the United Nations

Education, Science and Culture Organization (Unesco) as the percentage of

the population aged fteen years and over able to read and write, though

understanding a simple statement on everyday life. It showed solid progress

between 1980 and 2018. Only Chile and Suriname reported a slight decrease

in the last decade, but both keep 96.4 per cent (Chile) and 94.38 per cent

(Suriname) of their adult population literate. While Guyana currently has the

lower rate (85.64 per cent), the Argentinian rate is 99 per cent. Brazil held the

lowest rate in the region in the 1980s (74.59 per cent) but jumped to 93.23

per cent in the 2010s.

The gross domestic product (GDP) per capita has also increased in all the

countries. Despite shrinking periods from time to time –in 1985, nine out of

the twelve countries suffered shrinkages–, the overall evolution from 1980

to 2019 is positive. The GDP in Guyana had grown seven times since then.

Even Ecuador, which shows the lowest growth, increased it almost three ti

mes, as the gure below shows:

Figure 1. GDP per capita (US$, 01/07/2020)

Note. Source: The World Bank

Growing GDP is likely to boost development and we can see this trend from

the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) in the region. It shows

46 STUDIA POLITICÆ Nº 56 otoño 2022

a continued growth pattern between 1990 and 2018. Venezuela had a 0.45 per

cent decrease in its index during the 2010-2018 period, but its overall growth

was 0.46 per cent. Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay are among the group coun-

tries with very high human development according to rank. Only Guyana

is still among the ones with medium human development, despite it having

evolved 0.79 per cent in these three decades. The others have high human

development indexes (UNDP, 2020).

GINI Indexes’ evolution in South American countries between 2000 and

2018 have not achieved an optimistic level yet but is also quite consistent.

The index measures income inequality on a scale of 0 (perfect equality) to

100. Despite all countries in the region having reduced inequality in these

two last decades, all of them are still above 40, considered a high level of

inequality. Bolivia reported the highest decrease in the period, 19.4 points.

The homicide rate follows a less positive pace between 1990 and 2018 than

that of inequality, according to UNODC.

While it decreased signicantly in

Colombia (73.5 to 25.3) and slightly in Argentina and Ecuador, it increased

in Brazil (from 19.7 to 27.4) and in Uruguay (from 6.6 to 12.1). Peru and

Chile show stable indexes. Only Argentina, Chile and Ecuador keep it below

the world mean (between 5.8 and 6.8), while the other countries have shoc

kingly high levels of homicides per 100.000 population rates.

1.4 Increasing access to the internet

According to data by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU),

published by The World Bank

, all countries in the region have shown cons-

tant internet use growth since 2000. They follow the global trend: almost 50

per cent of the world’s total population was using the internet at the end of

2017.

Chile saw a slight shrinkage in 2017, like Venezuela, in 2016, and Bolivia,

in 2014, had seen. After the boom in 2010, out of the twelve countries, seven

had overcome that world mean by 2017, as shown in gure 2:

Online analysis can be run at UNODCDATA | United Nations Ofce on Drugs and Crime

available at https://dataunodc.un.org/content/data/homicide/homicide-rate.

Online analysis can be run at DataBank | World Development Indicators available at ht-

tps://databank.worldbank.org/home.

JÉSSICA DUARTE Y CARLA MENDONÇA 47

Figure 2. Individuals using the Internet

(% of countries’ total populations)

Note. Source: ITU/ The World Bank

The World Bank website makes free data available through the TCdata360

initiative.

International organisations, such as ITU, United Nations and

World Economic Forum, provide it with indexes that measure access, re-

sources and infrastructure related to the internet all around the world.

Despite the challenges to spread access to new technologies and digital me

dia, the region shows signicant development in the last decade. The interna-

tional internet bandwidth (kb/s) per internet user is the sum of the capacity of

all Internet exchanges offering international bandwidth measured in kilobits

per second (kb/s). In Ecuador and Peru, the kb/s use increased more than

four times in those ve years. In Paraguay, Guyana, and Argentina, where the

lower growth rates were reported, it still doubled in the period, but Argentina

already had the highest use rate among the twelve countries in 2012.

A more even trend is found when the percentage of inhabitants who are wi

thin range of a mobile cellular signal, irrespective of whether they are subs-

cribers, is measured. By 2016, all the twelve countries had more than 90

The World Bank’s TCdata360 initiative is accessible at https://tcdata360.worldbank.org/.

48 STUDIA POLITICÆ Nº 56 otoño 2022

per cent of the population covered by mobile coverage. Bolivia more than

doubled the range in the period, jumping from 45.9 per cent to 100 per cent.

The percentage of households with personal computers and internet ac

cess also increased constantly from 2012 to 2016, but at a slower pace and

showing countries’ asymmetries. In Guyana, the number of houses with per

sonal computers and internet access increased more than four times, while

the same growth rate was found in Bolivia for internet access at home. Des-

pite the growth, only in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay more than 50 per cent

of the houses have both resources. In Bolivia, while 34.8 per cent of the hou

ses have personal computers, only 17 per cent of them have internet access.

While 67.4 per cent of Uruguayan households have personal computers, only

26.8 per cent in Guyana do. Whether internet access is considered, 57 per

cent of houses in Uruguay have it, facing 17 per cent in Bolivia.

The mobile telephone subscriptions (post-paid and prepaid) per 100 popu

lation index considers a subscription to a public mobile telephone service

that provides access to the Public Switched Telephone Network using cellu

lar technology. Only Guyana (from 73.6 to 70.5) and Suriname (from 169.6

to 161) reported shrinkages during the period. Furthermore, only in Bolivia

(96.3), Guyana (70.5) and Venezuela (98.9) the index is below 100. The other

nine countries have more per 100 population, with Uruguay reporting 160.7

and Argentina, 158.7.

Despite all the positive indexes described above, it is important to stress that

democracy institutionalization and structural economic reforms in the politi

cal arena have not produced signicant effects in the social eld.

Baquero (2011) points out that popular pressures have called for more equa

lity in access to politics, more transparency and effectiveness in political

institutions oversight, and corruption eradication. However, he states, Latin

Americans register a disenchantment with politics because they do not per-

ceive the materialization of public policies in conditions that will allow them

to develop their potential.

Besides that, remaining social inequality, poverty, difcult access to health

services, low-quality education and poor working conditions are recorded in

all Latin American countries. They also feed a fear of institutional ruptures

and coups d’état. Baquero (2011) similarly highlights that there is a demand

for public policies on security and crime eradication.

JÉSSICA DUARTE Y CARLA MENDONÇA 49

2. Method

This is a longitudinal analysis of the answers of individuals within the cohort

of sixteen to twenty-four years old using the complete WVS database. We

conduct a longitudinal study according to Hernández-Sampieri et al. (2018)

who state that changes in a dened population or subpopulation should be

monitored over time.

The whole WVS research consists of nationally representative surveys con

ducted in almost a hundred countries, using a common questionnaire with hun-

dred-eight enclosed variables. Seven waves had been performed since 1981.

We examined the cases of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador,

Peru, and Uruguay. Bolivia and Venezuela have also been tracked by WVS,

but they lack important variables for this study. Venezuela has not measured

democratic attitudes since 2005, and Bolivia came to participate only in the

last wave.

Our independent variables are those about sources of information: digital

media (e-mail, internet, and mobile phone) and information media (daily

newspaper, radio news and TV news). The dependent ones are those on de

mocratic attitudes and participatory behaviour (membership participation

and political action). See table 1 below. Voting was excluded from this last

one since it is compulsory in most South American countries, except for Chi

le and Colombia.

Available at http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSContents.jsp.

Cepal, Observatorio de Igualdad de Género. Available at https://oig.cepal.org/es/paises/9/

system

50 STUDIA POLITICÆ Nº 56 otoño 2022

Table 1. Conceptual denitions

Source of Information

Code Label Operationalization

E248 Information source: daily newspaper All the variables are re

corded in ascending or-

der.

After the factorial anal

yses, the variables were

summed in their clus-

ters and normalized on a

common scale.

E258 Information source: TV news

E259 Information source: radio news

E260 Information source: mobile phone

E261 Information source: e-mail

E262 Information source: internet

Participatory Behaviour

Code Label Operationalization

A098 Membership: church or religious or

ganization

All the variables are re-

corded in ascending or-

der.

After the factorial anal

ysis, the variables were

summed in their clus-

ters and normalized on a

common scale.

A099 Membership: sport or recreation

A100 Membership: art, music, educational

A101 Membership: labour unions

A102 Membership: political party

A103 Membership: environmental organi

zation

A104 Membership: professional organiza

tion

A105 Membership: charitable/humanitarian

organization

E025 Political action: signing a petition

E026 Political action: joining in boycotts

JÉSSICA DUARTE Y CARLA MENDONÇA 51

E027 Political action: attending lawful/

peaceful demonstrations

E028 Political action: joining unofcial

strikes

Democratic attitudes

Code Label Operationalization

E226 Democracy: people choose their lea

ders in free elections.

All the variables are re-

corded in ascending or-

der.

After the factorial analy

sis, the variables were

summed in their clus-

ters and normalized on a

common scale.

E229 Democracy: civil rights protect peo

ple’s liberty against oppression.

E235 Importance of democracy

E236 Democraticness in own country

E117 Political system: having a democratic

political system

Our factorial analysis is detailed in table 2 below and is an exploratory

approach to check the cohesion of the variables and whether it ts our theo

retical assumptions. Beyond the variables equal and higher than 0.6, we ac-

cepted the ones close to it due to their theoretical relevance. The variables

Membership of sport or recreation organisation, Membership of church or

religious organisation and Democraticness in own country did not reach any

statistical relevance and had to be rejected.

Then, we gathered them in dimensions, built their means, and created in

dexes. Finally, we ran a multiple linear regression to measure the level of

prediction of digital media and information media’s inuence on democratic

attitudes and political behaviours of young South Americans.

52 STUDIA POLITICÆ Nº 56 otoño 2022

Table 2. Factorial Analysis

Dimension: Factor Loading

Source of Information 1 2

Email ,842

Internet ,821 -,343

Mobile phone ,758 -,302

Radio news ,358 ,659

TV news ,655

Daily newspaper ,405 ,635

Participatory Behaviour 1 2

Membership of professional organisation ,737

Membership of environmental organisation ,725

Membership of charitable/humanitarian organisation ,707

Membership of political party ,676

Membership of labour unions ,659

Membership of art, music, educational organisation ,572

Membership of sport or recreation organisation ,518

Membership of church or religious organisation ,424

Attending lawful/peaceful demonstrations ,827

Joining unofcial strikes ,767

Joining in boycotts ,704

Signing a petition ,676

Democratic Attitudes 1

Democracy: People choose their leaders in free

elections.

,722

Democracy: Civil rights protect people’s liberty

against oppression.

,691

Importance of democracy ,655

Political system: Having a democratic political system ,596

Democraticness in own country ,291

Notes. Colombia n = 2584; Ecuador n = 497; Peru n = 1572; Brazil n = 1560; Chile n =

1113; Argentina n = 1360; Uruguay n = 411 (all waves).

Extrac. Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Oblimin with Kaiser

Normalization.

Source information: KMO Test: ,686 and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity Sig.= 0,000. Partici-

patory Behaviour: KMO Test: ,829 and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity Sig.= 0,000. Democrat-

ic Attitudes: KMO Test: ,660 and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity Sig.= 0,000

JÉSSICA DUARTE Y CARLA MENDONÇA 53

3. Results

We found information on the use of media by young South Americans in the

last two WVS waves (2010-2014 and 2017-2020). It gives us an understand

ing of how these data behaved throughout the last decade according to the

interviewees’ answers.

As the gure below shows, the daily newspapers, television and radio news

consumption mean is shrinking in all countries - Uruguay had not had the last

wave conducted. We found dramatically growing percentages of individuals

who never read a daily newspaper, followed by a decrease in daily reading.

Data on television and radio news consumption are also decreasing but show

less dramatic disparities.

Figure 3. Information Media Consumption (Mean)

Note. 0 = never, 4 = daily

Digital media (e-mail, mobile and internet) use shows an uneven pace among

the countries in this last decade. Considering the mean, while its use increa-

sed in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru from one wave to the other, it shrank in

Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. When we analyse percentages in each country,

Chile is the only one where the internet, email and mobile phones have their

use by young people shrinking altogether.

54 STUDIA POLITICÆ Nº 56 otoño 2022

Figure 4. Use of Digital Media (Mean)

Note. 0 = never, 4 = daily

Democratic attitudes have been measured since 1994 in South American

countries. We can see in gure 5 that the countries show some stability and

similar levels of democratic attitudes in their means throughout these two and

a half decades. According to the mean, we assume that only Argentines and

Brazilians show little change toward more democratic attitudes since 1994.

Figure 5. Democratic Attitudes (Mean)

Note. 1 = no democratic at all, 10 = very democratic

JÉSSICA DUARTE Y CARLA MENDONÇA 55

Analysing participative behaviour, we can see that membership participation

indexes are poor in all countries since 1981, and there is an even decrease in

Brazil, Peru, and Uruguay. Argentina and Chile register stable levels. Colom-

bia and Ecuador show growth in this dimension in the last wave, but still at

low levels of participation:

Figure 6. Membership Participation (Mean)

Note. 0 = no participative at all, 2 = very participative

Still considering participative behaviour, despite being also low and uneven

across the waves, political action shows higher levels in all countries. While

the means increased in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru since 1981, it

shrunk in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay:

56 STUDIA POLITICÆ Nº 56 otoño 2022

Figure 7. Political Action (Mean)

Note. 0 = no participative at all, 10 = very participative

3.1 Theoretical model lack of predictability

Through a multiple linear regression, we veried if information media con

sumption and digital media use were able to predict democratic attitudes,

membership participation, and political action.

We run six different models to test comparatively if there were relations be

tween those variables: 1) Use of Digital Media/Democratic Attitudes, 2) Use

of Digital Media/Membership Participation, 3) Use of Digital Media/Politi-

cal Action; and 4) Information Media Consumption/Democratic Attitudes, 5)

Information Media Consumption/Membership Participation, 6) Information

Media Consumption/Political Action.

When we analysed democratic attitudes, we found that our model is statisti

cally signicant (F(2, 154608 ) =177,894; p < 0,001; R

= 0,002). However,

digital media use (β = -0,22; t = -8,210; p < 0,001) and information media

consumption (β = 0,49; t = 18,558; p < 0,001) together do not predict demo-

cratic attitudes. The model estimates only 0.002 per cent (R

) of democratic

attitudes variation.

The model for political action is also statistically signicant (F(2, 146614) =

6900,840; p < 0,001; R

= 0,086). Again, digital media use (β = 0,225; t =

86,925; p < 0,001) and information media consumption (β = ,137; t = 52,862;

JÉSSICA DUARTE Y CARLA MENDONÇA 57

p < 0,001) together do not predict political action. Like the model of the de-

mocratic attitude, the possibility of estimation is close to zero (R

= 0,086).

Finally, membership participation is also statistically signicant (F(2,154892)

= 2779,287; p < 0,001; R

= 0,035 ). Digital media use (β 0,134=; t = 51,843;

p < 0,001) and information media consumption (β = 0,98; t = 37,769; p <

0,001) also do not have prediction ability. Again, the possibility of estimation

is close to zero (R

= 0,035).

4. Discussion

Despite distinctive national trajectories and asymmetries, common broad

socio-historic periods and social-economic data trends shared by all South

American countries allow us to consider them an exploratory place for this

study.

Since the 1980s, literacy, GDP per capita, and HDI have increased signi

cantly in all the countries - our cases record high HDI. GINI Index is still

high but shows decreasing rates. According to the World Bank, since 1990,

information and communication infrastructure and use have spread in all the

countries, following the global pace - internet use growth is constant since

2000, for example.

Those are important material conditions for individuals who passed through

that while in their formative years.

Has this process been followed by cultural change towards more democratic

attitudes and political participation though?

Our rst hypothesis proposes that the growing use of digital media by young

South Americans is associated with changes in their political attitudes and

behaviours. However, our multiple linear regression analysis results show

little prediction ability on the relations between digital media use and infor

mation media consumption and democratic attitudes and political behaviour.

Digital media use by individuals in the database has increased in Colombia,

Ecuador, and Peru indeed, but decreased in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, se

parating the countries into two opposite trends. Then, we can also state that

there are changes in democratic attitudes and political behaviours, but they

show slow and low indexes of change: democratic attitudes means have been

between 7.34 and 8.83; membership is around 0.25; and political action be

tween 0.5 and 1.0.

58 STUDIA POLITICÆ Nº 56 otoño 2022

According to our second hypothesis, increasing use of digital media by young

South Americans comes along with more democratic attitudes and stronger

political participation. The growing use of digital media is recorded in Co-

lombia and Ecuador, and young people have become more participative there

indeed. On the other hand, it decreases in Brazil and Argentina, but their

young nationals show a change toward more democratic attitudes since 1994.

When we consider active members of political parties, a conventional sort

of political participation, slightly more young people are participating only

in Chile and Ecuador. However, it is plummeting in all the other countries,

and it hardly reaches 3.6 per cent of the individuals in Ecuador, the highest

percentage among the cases. Membership’s mean in general is shrinking.

These data underpin the literature referred to in this article, which has re

corded young people’s disaffection with conventional and institutionalized

political participation. Political action, conversely, driven by digital media

propagation in the last decade, is the only dimension where we can nd some

increase.

Despite the data discussed above, digital media is spread, and, in the last

wave, mobile phones were used by 68.8 per cent of Colombians, 71.1 per

cent of Brazilians, and 66 per cent of Ecuadorians. Brazilians (74.4 per cent),

Colombians (73.2 per cent) and Ecuadorians (73.6 per cent) were also the

countries where more young people use the internet.

Chile is worth being highlighted, since it puts our hypotheses to the test,

reversing them. It is the only country where the use of the internet, email

and mobile phones by young people is equally decreasing. At the same time,

three out of four democratic attitudes measured are shrinking among them,

and they have been less participative since 1981 too. Socioeconomic ma

cro data are positive in the country, despite literacy showing a very slight

shrinkage from 2000-2009 to 2010-2018.

Modernisation Theory proposes that conditions of prosperity and security are

conducive to a tolerance of democracy and self-expression values. Richer

societies are much more likely to be democratic than poor ones, and, under

economic collapse threatening, for example, people may be willing to submit

to authoritarian rule.

It is mandatory to consider here that, despite showing conditions of prosperi

ty, South American societies are in varying developing stages, asymmetrical

among each other. For young people, this can be confusing: while there is a

continental peace zone, domestic conicts and urban violence makes them

JÉSSICA DUARTE Y CARLA MENDONÇA 59

feel unsafe, when not directly impacted by it. Inequality has reduced, but

it still shows up very often in young people’s experiences with each other.

Democratization has advanced, but corruption, political parties’ failures, and

coups d’état challenge their values.

Along with that, literacy, higher education, and mass media are supposed

to bring knowledge, information, and opportunities to engage with politi

cal issues on a national scale. Instead, the region’s information media sys-

tems and their practices and monopolies are evenly and sharply losing young

people’s interest. Furthermore, individuals’ accomplishments in literacy and

education do not guarantee their access to political decision institutions and

processes.

Political action, such as participation in demonstrations, has not been pro

perly addressed by political institutions, frustrating people’s attempts at par-

ticipation and feelings of political efcacy and condence. Despite Chile’s

recent political changes achieved also based on people’s and young people’s

demonstrations, we did not nd it as a South American pattern.

All the above-mentioned, do not offer proper conditions for signicant cultu

ral change, and that is what data show.

Conclusion

We intended to explore the analytic potential of longitudinal and generational

data as a powerful tool for the analysis of cultural change towards democratic

and self-expression values among South American young people since 1981,

considering the spread of digital media since the early 1990s.

We found that, according to WVS data, democratic attitudes and political par

ticipation are not associated with the spreading use of digital media among

those young people. There are subtle cultural changes, but they are low and

uneven if compared to the pace of media infrastructure and use advances in

societies. They show more stability than a change in those four decades.

It is important to note that infrastructure improvement and access to digital

media growth in the continent have occurred in the last two decades. Thus,

only young people who participated in the last WVS wave grew up in their

childhood and adolescence under the full inuence of digital media.

This study’s results dialogue with socialisation theory in considering that

individuals tend to maintain political culture patterns developed up to ado

60 STUDIA POLITICÆ Nº 56 otoño 2022

lescence (Graaf & Evans, 1996, p. 609). These young people’s socialisation

processes were impacted by values and attitudes transmitted by a generation

that lived in a non-democratic context, in its cultural and political terms. La-

tin America has a history of alternations between democratic and authorita-

rian regimes and low levels of democratic attitudes and political participation

(Baquero, 2011).

On the other hand, Modernisation Theory proposes that better living con

ditions than those that shaped older generations lead to self-expression and

post-modern values and that favourable existential conditions of security and

individual autonomy tend to make people value self-expression (Inglehart

& Welzel, 2009). Our study suggests that Modernisation Theory better ts

richer societies, where this approach was developed and is still based.

South American societies are recording levels of prosperity, but they are still

developing socio-economic and political conditions. It is possible to say that

South American countries have not yet reached all the basic conditions for a

full and autonomous life.

The Modernisation Theory thesis shows itself somewhat limited in the re

gional context. It does not offer tools to analyse the diversity of political

experiences across the region – like the civil war in Colombia, dictatorship

and democratization in the Southern Cone and Brazil, and the alternation

between right-wing and left-wing neo-populist governments across the con-

tinent. Prosperity has risen, but democratic attitudes and participation do not

follow similar patterns in such diverse political contexts.

Apparently, more important than each country’s position in the economic

development ranking has been the prevalence of its high levels of social in

equality, poverty, and crime despite the increase in economic indexes such as

GDP, or human indexes such as HDI and literacy rate.

An important concern is the actual effect of increased literacy rates, which

should promote advances in democratic attitudes and behaviour in a context

where the media is explored by monopolies and ideologically. Furthermore,

urban violence, economic crisis, political instabilities, and broad changes in

political parties and their relationships with citizens are some of the circum

stances people face in their daily lives.

Finally, despite theoretical perspectives on the possibilities promoted by

greater access to the internet and the advance in technological infrastructure

reported in South America, a use reduction was reported in Brazil, Chile, and

JÉSSICA DUARTE Y CARLA MENDONÇA 61

Argentina in the last decade - despite it not affecting the high rates of use on

the continent. Anyway, it is possible to better understand why the averages

and statistical tests for the region did not result as expected.

This article brings some contributions to theoretical perspectives on young

people’s political-cultural behaviours and attitudes. In general, it was not

possible to identify a clear change in the dimensions over time, nor to ob

serve whether small changes occurred to congure a movement towards an

increase in democratic attitudes and participatory behaviour. On the contrary,

we can see more clearly the variables’ stability.

Besides learning from the dissonance between literature and research results,

it is important to emphasize some of this study’s limitations.

First, most countries in South America have mandatory voting which impac

ted our analysis of political behaviour. This does not allow measurements

and comparison of forms of unconventional participation with the main form

of conventional participation, hindering the evaluation of change in one type

of behaviour in relation to the other.

The database also brings its limitation. Data on media use and consumption

were collected only in the last two WVS waves (2010-2014 and 2017-2020).

Besides that, digital media use only refers to e-mail, mobile, and the internet.

There are no data on social media use.

We also missed information about Uruguay, which has not had the last wave

conducted; Venezuela, which has not measured democratic attitudes since

2005; and Bolivia, which came to participate only in the last wave.

Finally, we recognise the limitations of quantitative research in the study

of young people’s political participation. While the quantitative data macro

approach can help us to understand what has happened within this population

in general, especially longitudinally, qualitative research can bring insights

into how young people are creating their ways to make politics and change it.

New studies, based on participatory democracy theory and mixed methods

are welcome to better understand the future to come in the region.

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