The Effects of Structural and Regulative Conditions of Communication on the Quantity and Quality of Online Deliberation

June Woong Rhee
Dept. of Communication, Seoul National University

Eunmee Kim
Dept. of Communication, Yonsei University

Taejoon Moon
Dept. of Communication, Seoul National University

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     Last modified: March 30, 2005

Abstract
The emergence of the Internet and the potentials it has for building up public sphere has sparked a renewed interest on the concept of deliberative democracy. As a first of multiple waves of studies, currently undergoing for the Daum Deliberative Democracy project, this paper attempts to develop a comprehensive research model of deliberation on the Internet and to empirically test it by a field experiment. By manipulating the structural and regulative conditions of communication (such as display of social identity cues, existence and/or intervention of moderators, and reinforcement of deliberation efficacy), this study examines whether the quantity and quality of deliberation on the Internet is affected by the specific conditions provided while the effects of communicator characteristics are controlled for. Main effects of the three experimental stimuli (differences in structural and regulative dimensions of communication) were found. Moderation decreased the quantity of deliberation while social cues and moderation increased the quality. Empirical effects of communicator-related variables on the deliberation behaviors are also discussed.