UC Santa Barbara

What explains civic engagement in China? China lacks many factors traditionally theorized by scholars to explain cooperative behavior in civic engagement. China has constrained formal opportunities for political participation and the absence of a public sphere. Additionally, it lacks the well-developed institutional structures of civil society organizations, such as the presence of NGOs.This study seeks to investigate whether social media – as a form of informal institution – play a key role in civic engagement in China. The study begins with the insight that online social network ties may lead to cooperative behaviors of Chinese citizens in civic engagement. I argue that social media may have differential impacts on civic engagement, depending on whether such platforms are conducive to maintaining social network ties. Furthermore, online relationships may be mediated by offline relationships in social media use and civic engagement. I test my hypotheses using large-N analysis and develop regression models using a dataset on social media and public opinion in China. There are three main findings. First, social media designed to maintain social network ties and increase their customer base through network ties seem to have a positive impact on civic engagement. Conversely, social media designed for entertainment and instant gratification tends to have no impact or even negative impact on civic engagement. Second, the more people interact online with people whom they know offline, the more likely they will be engaged in civic activities. Third, the closer the offline relationship is, the more civic engagement interests there will be.