Impact of Economic Disparity on Democratic Values and Democratic Participation
Downloads
Abstract
The study measures the impacts caused by economic disparity on democratic values and political participation of people and also examine the role of social media in shaping public perceptions of inequality and democratic engagement. This research will employ a quantitative approach to examine the impact of economic disparity on democratic values and political participation in rural areas of the Salem, Namakkal, Dharmapuri and Erode districts. The study used structured interview schedule was used to collect quantitative data from a sample of 276 electoral residents in rural areas of these four districts. The study utilizes snowball sampling due to the challenges in identifying and contacting individuals in rural areas. This method is particularly suitable for exploring potentially sensitive topics related to economic inequality and political views. The sample size of 276 provides adequate statistical power for the planned analyses considering the expected effect sizes and desired level of precision. The Quantitative data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, correlation and regression analysis to examine the relationships between economic background, democratic values, social media effects and political participation. The findings portrays that the economic disparity and social media influence are having significant quantitative impact on the democratic values and participation among the electoral voters.DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63942/brjssh.v5.i5.p5.56128Keywords:
Democratic Values and Demographic Participation, Economic Disparity, Social Media Influence, Socio-Economic InfluenceIntroduction audio
A spoken introduction to this research.
Research ID
Universal Unique Research ID
e208573d-251b-49d0-896a-e60ba5f6e140References
Asimakopoulos, G., Antonopoulou, H., Giotopoulos, K., & Halkiopoulos, C. (2025). Impact of information and communication technologies on democratic processes and citizen participation. Societies, 15(2), 40. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15020040
Bennett, W. L. (2012). The personalization of politics: Political identity, social media, and changing patterns of participation. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 644(1), 20–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716212451428
Bhattacharya, U. (2024). Exploring student political engagement: Perceptions and participation at Delhi University’s North Campus [Preprint]. SSRN. https://ssrn.com/abstract=4840452
De Zúñiga, H. G., Copeland, L., & Bimber, B. (2014). Political consumerism: Civic engagement and the social media connection. New Media & Society, 16(3), 488–506. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444813487960
Gaventa, J., & Barrett, G. (2010). So what difference does it make? Mapping the outcomes of citizen engagement (IDS Working Paper 347). Institute of Development Studies.
Islam, M. M. (2025). Impact of social media in political participation (2010–2020): A study on students of public universities of Bangladesh [Doctoral dissertation, University of Dhaka].
Kahne, J., Hodgin, E., & Eidman-Aadahl, E. (2016). Redesigning civic education for the digital age: Participatory politics and the pursuit of democratic engagement. Theory & Research in Social Education, 44(1), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2015.1132646
Oliveira, A. F., Leote de Carvalho, M. J., & Sousa, C. (2024). Young people's diversity and digital media: A systematic review (2010-2022). Media and Communication, 12. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.7801
Otuya-Asohro, E. O. (2024). Social media as a viable tool for curbing the menace of political apathy in Nigeria. In R. O. Ope-Agbe & O. O. Opadere (Eds.), Emergence of social media: Shaping the digital discourse of the next generation (p. 105). Peter Lang.
Passy, F., & Giugni, M. (2001). Social networks and individual perceptions: Explaining differential participation in social movements. Sociological Forum, 16(1), 123–153. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007621124584
Saxena, K., & Ofori-Parku, S. S. (2024). ‘Funny’ politics: Stand-up political comedy, public engagement, critical thinking, and opinion sharing in India. Journal of Creative Communications, 19(3), 350–365. https://doi.org/10.1177/09732586241258079
Scheufele, D. A., Nisbet, M. C., Brossard, D., & Nisbet, E. C. (2004). Social structure and citizenship: Examining the impacts of social setting, network heterogeneity, and informational variables on political participation. Political Communication, 21(3), 315–338. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584600490481395
Selenko, E., Schilbach, M., Brieger, S. A., Van Hootegem, A., & De Witte, H. (2025). The political consequences of work: An integrative review. Journal of Management. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063241301337
Sharma, S., Kar, A. K., & Gupta, M. P. (2024). Untangling the web between digital citizen empowerment, accountability and quality of participation experience for e-government: Lessons from India. Government Information Quarterly, 41(3), 101964. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2024.101964
Solt, F. (2008). Economic inequality and democratic political engagement. American Journal of Political Science, 52(1), 48–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00298.x
Xie, P., Zhang, Y., Chen, R., Lin, Z., & Lu, N. (2024). Social media’s impact on environmental awareness: A marginal treatment effect analysis of WeChat usage in China. BMC Public Health, 24(1), 3237. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-20155-2
Xing, Y., Zhang, J. Z., Storey, V. C., & Koohang, A. (2024). Diving into the divide: A systematic review of cognitive bias-based polarization on social media. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 37(1), 259–287. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEIM-03-2023-0130
Zadra, M. F. (2024). The EU migrants political participation at the local level in post-brexit England: A comparative analysis of the institutional effects in four local authorities [Doctoral dissertation, University of Southampton].
Copyright & reuse
© 2025 Josephine Daisy, Karthick. Authors retain copyright in their work. Reuse is permitted under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 when the authors and original publication are credited.
License terms · Copyright policy
Disclaimer
The claims in this article belong to its authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their institutions, Boston Research Journals, editors or reviewers. Publication does not constitute endorsement of a product or manufacturer’s claim.
Published
Issue
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Boston Research Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publication record
- Accepted
- 2025-06-02
- Published
- 2025-07-15
- Pages in issue
- 5 - 21
- Online ISSN
- 2834-4863
- Print ISSN
- 2834-4855
Peer reviewed research
Review by at least two independent experts under a double-blind process.
Peer review process ↗Copyright & access
🟢 Open Access | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)
View license terms ↗Preservation & archival
Long-term preservation with BRJ Cloud.
View archival policy ↗Published by BRJ
Compiled and published in the United States of America.
About Boston Research Journals ↗