Media and Political Participation: Impact and Future Challenges

Abstract

This research paper deals with the role of the media in political participation, as we first address the determinants of political participation and related concepts across different historical period, starting with the philosophical concept of political participation and reaching its most important manifestations in the context of contemporary societies. We also address the most important functions of the media through the visions of a number of thinkers who were interested in the communication phenomenon in general and the functions of the media in particular in political life, and the extent of the intertwining and interconnection between those functions and political practice in light of the rapid developments of the media, starting with the print press and reaching the new media