The Political Legacy of Entertainment TV

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Durante, Ruben; Pinotti, Paolo; Tesei, Andrea
• 署名单位: Pompeu Fabra University; Barcelona School of Economics; ICREA; Center for Economic & Policy Research (CEPR); Bocconi University; Bocconi University; University of London; Queen Mary University London; London School Economics & Political Science
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.20150958
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 2497-2530
• 关键词: TELEVISION EXPOSURE; PARTY-ORGANIZATION; SOCIAL OUTCOMES; western-europe; MEDIA EXPOSURE; association; childhood; attention; populism; IMPACT

摘要

We study the political impact of commercial television in Italy exploiting the staggered introduction of Berlusconi's private TV network, Mediaset, in the early 1980s. We find that individuals with early access to Mediaset all-entertainment content were more likely to vote for Berlusconi's party in 1994, when he first ran for office. The effect persists for five elections and is driven by heavy TV viewers, namely the very young and the elderly. Regarding possible mechanisms, we find that individuals exposed to entertainment TV as children were less cognitively sophisticated and civic-minded as adults, and ultimately more vulnerable to Berlusconi's populist rhetoric.