Browsing by Author "Rohana Abdul Hamid"

This study examines the role of the cyberspace in promoting or restricting democracy in Malaysia between 2007 and 2011. It analyses the nature of the cyberspace in Malaysia, the extent to which regulators affect the nature of cyberspace and the role played by cyberspace in promoting or hindering democratic process in terms of electoral contestation, political participation and the practice of civil and political liberties in Malaysia. It also identifies and evaluates the role of political parties, civil society groups, NGOs like Bersih, election candidates, media and socio-political bloggers. This study combines the equalisation and normalisation perspectives and argues that forces of regulators i.e. laws, markets and social norms may serve to either restrict or extend democracy. This thesis is based upon a) documentation and statistical records of various government agencies, other researches and online sites such as blogs and online newspapers; qualitative content analysis of online newspapers, facebook of civil society and blogs. Interviews were carried out with representatives from political party, civil society group (Bersih 2.0) and politician. This study found that laws and market constricts cyberspace and this hinder the democratic process. However, these processes are countered by social norms and participant political culture of Malaysians. The cyberspace breaks the monopoly of mainstream media and was used as the platform by opposition parties and civil society to ventilate their grievances and promote their interests

This thesis aims to look into how social media has emerged as a novel venue for political participation. Research has shown that young people's engagement in conventional political participation is declining. Nevertheless, additional research indicates that youth might opt for unconventional political participation via social media platforms. This study examines the young people's political participation on social media. The first research question: How does political interest explain young people's participation in online politics? Next, why did young people use social media to engage in political activities? The third research question is: How do young people use social media in political activities? This thesis is guided by three objectives. The first objective is to explore the role of political interest in online politics. The second objective is to examine the gratifications that motivate youth to use social media to engage in political activities. The third objective is to examine the type of political activities of young people on social media. In pursuit of the objectives, the study is guided by uses and gratification theory to answer the research questions. The study employs a qualitative research method. Data was gathered from transcripts of focus group discussions and thematic content analysis was utilized to examine the data. The study discovers that social media is a platform for young people to receive and communicate political news and information. The findings also show that political interest is a factor that encourages the respondents to participate in online activities. The study contributes to a greater understanding of young people’s use of social media to communicate, obtain information and participate in society. Key words: Youth Online Political Participation, Social Media, Uses and Gratification, Political Interest.