In the Wake of the Past: Contextualizing Political Communication and Participation in Postauthoritarian Countries

Abstract As public opinion research increasingly recognizes the importance of context, this study investigates how the authoritarian past can explain the mobilizing role of political communication in participatory behaviors. Positing that postauthoritarianism can serve as a sociopolitical context shaping citizens’ responses to interpersonal discussion and media use, the current research employs cross-national survey data from 14 countries in the Comparative National Elections Project (CNEP). Employing multilevel modeling, this research examines how interpersonal political discussion with strong and weak ties and attitude-congruent media use can be related to two modes of political participation: protesting and voting. The findings suggest that frequent weak-tie political discussion is associated with increased protest participation; this mobilizing role is less pronounced in postauthoritarian countries compared to countries without an authoritarian past. Moreover, exposure to attitude-congruent media exhibits different patterns in facilitating voting regarding previous regime ideologies, left-wing or right-wing. By suggesting postauthoritarianism as a contextual layer, this study advances a more nuanced, cross-national understanding of democratic engagement.