The Virtue of Moderation: A Cross-National Analysis of Exposure to Cross-Cutting Information and Turnout

This study examines whether exposure to political disagreement through the media makes citizens more or less likely to vote. Previous research provides mixed and inconclusive results on the mobilizing effects of exposure to cross-cutting, or non-like-minded, viewpoints. Relying on both 2009 European Election Studies (EES) media content analysis and voter survey covering 27 European Union countries, we construct two measures of cross-cutting news media exposure. We find that the relationship between exposure to cross-cutting information and turnout is nonlinear. While extreme levels of cross-cutting news exposure are negatively associated with turnout, exposure to a moderate degree of non-like-minded news increases the likelihood of voting