The goal of this research is to produce both a monograph and an edited volume that analyze the public spheres of the contemporary United States and other nations and the role of the Internet within them. The premise of the monograph is that, in the U.S. case, what we have come to see as a decline in civic engagement is better understood as the passing away of one model of public sphere conjoined with the emergence of a new model. The old public sphere was “localized,” grounded in local relations, particularly economic ones, while the new public sphere is de-localized.

MAPP (Media Activism Participatory Politics) case studies will provide in-depth descriptions of exemplary youth organizations and networks that encourage productive forms of participation in the public spheres. Specifically, we are examining the potential connections between participatory culture and civic engagement, with the long-term goal of identifying best practices that may inform future efforts to recruit and mobilize young citizens.

The Youth Participatory Politics Survey group is collecting survey data from a nationally representative sample of more than 2,500 respondents ages 15-25. The sample includes an oversample of African American, Asian, and Latino respondents. Our surveys, administered following the 2010 and 2012 elections, include questions that examine the quantity, quality and equality of youth new media practices, political and civic attitudes and behavior and engagement in something we have labeled participatory politics.