MEDIA AND INFORMATION

LITERATE INDIVIDUAL
GREATER POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Participation in electoral processes involves much more
than just voting. Political participation derives from the
freedom to speak out, assemble and associate; the ability
to take part in the conduct of public affairs; and the
opportunity to register as a candidate, to campaign, to be
elected and to hold office at all levels of government.
Under international standards, men and women have an
equal right to participate fully in all aspects of the political
process.

Democracy: a form of government in which

people choose leaders by voting
Academic research has consistently found that people who
consume more news media have a greater probability of
being civically and politically engaged across a variety of
measures. In an era when the publics time and attention is
increasingly directed toward platforms such as Facebook and
Twitter, scholars are seeking to evaluate the still-emerging
relationship between social media use and public
engagement.

In practice, however, it is often harder for women to exercise this

right. In post-conflict countries there are frequently extra barriers
to womens participation, and special care is required to ensure their
rights are respected in this regard but because of media and
information the ability to participate politically can now be given to
them with the use of world wide web.
Political participation extends beyond parties, however. Women can
also become involved in certain aspects of the electoral process
through independent actionparticularly at the local leveland by
joining civil society organizations. Some women in post-conflict
countries have gained political experience by participating in nonelected transitional assemblies. Womens networks, trade unions,
non-governmental organizations, and the media can all provide

Types of Political Participation

There are many different forms of political participation, and whether you know it
or not, you've probably taken part in some of them at different points in your life.
Some of the most common forms of political participation are:

 1. Voting:

In a democracy, voting is the single most important form of

political participation that a person can take part in because it ensures
that politicians are elected by the people, rather than being assigned to
their position of power by someone else.

2. Protest:

Whether or not it is a constitutional right, are another

important form of political participation because you are making your
opinions known in a very obvious way, with the hope that your actions will
influence or initiate change in a particular area of politics.

3. Public consultations:

Like voting, public consultations (which

are more commonly known as town hall meetings) offer ordinary citizens
the chance to get together in a group with a politician or elected official in
order to make their opinions and feelings known.

4. Jury duty:

Although most people shudder at the thought of having

to attend jury duty, it is an important type of political participation because
it ensures that people who are charged with a crime are judged by people
like them, rather than allowing the outcome to depend entirely on a single
person, such as a judge.

While these are some of the most common forms of political participation, there
are many others. These include:
Signing a petition
Writing a letter to a public official
Blogging about a political issue
Donating money to a cause
Volunteering for a campaign
Joining an activist or interest group
Holding a public official position
Occupying a building in an act of protest
Committing a terrorist act

THE EFFECTS OF MEDIA AND INFORMATION IN POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

THIS IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

Most Filipinos have a cellphone and access to a computer these days, and
many of us have moved to a much more digital existence. We've gained
hundreds of cable TV channels and satellite radio stations, millions of
bloggers, and literally billions of Web pages. The media today are more
diffuse and chaotic than ever.
The result is a new paradigm in political communications, and both parties
are using it. Very little of it has to do with expensive political advertising on
mass media. Look at your desktop, and you'll see the ways the new media
are changing the political scene from the bottom up:

5 WAYS HOW OUR POLITICAL

SYSTEM CHANGES
1. News you can choose:"With the Internet, with YouTube, with
TiVo, with cable TV, people are selective viewers now. . . . People approach
their news consumption the way they approach their iPod: You download
the songs you like and listen to them when you want to listen to them."
That affects the way reporters spend their days and the way campaigns
craft their message.

2. Share this:Sharing is emerging as a way of distributing the news

tweets from the streets of Iran and from the rubble of Haiti have been
retweeted hundreds of times in a new, virtual form of word of mouth.

4. Like it:

By clicking on a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" icon,

constituents can give politicians an instant read on opinions and positions
posted on their Web pages, sort of a rudimentary straw poll that is faster,
cheaperbut less accuratethan a high-priced telephone poll.

4. Connect with others:Similarly, last-minute organizational

details for tea parties, town hall meetings, and even State of the Unionwatching events get posted on Facebook pages and tweeted to supporters.
It sure beats passing out fliers at subway stops, as political organizers used
to do.

5. Donate now:Most politicians would rather have thousands of

individual givers than a few big corporate donors, and the Internet makes
that much easier.