Democracy thrives on compromise. However, in recent years, growing political polarization in many countries increasingly hinders political cooperation and fuels conflict among citizens. This research proposes an agent-based theoretical framework demonstrating how the dynamic interaction between voters and an evolving media landscape influences ideological divergence at the individual level. Extending existing literature which attributes voter polarization as top-down procedure where polarization among elites shaping ideological polarization on electorates, this study theorizes that it can also emerge from the bottom-up. Specifically, I investigate how significant shifts in media market structure—characterized by increased entry of diverse media entities and enhanced individual accessibility to information—affect voter polarization. The result finds that that media market competition indeed influences voter polarization, but surprisingly, exhibits an inverse U-shaped relationship.
","abstract_html":"<p>Democracy thrives on compromise. However, in recent years, growing political polarization in many countries increasingly hinders political cooperation and fuels conflict among citizens. This research proposes an agent-based theoretical framework demonstrating how the dynamic interaction between voters and an evolving media landscape influences ideological divergence at the individual level. Extending existing literature which attributes voter polarization as top-down procedure where polarization among elites shaping ideological polarization on electorates, this study theorizes that it can also emerge from the bottom-up. Specifically, I investigate how significant shifts in media market structure—characterized by increased entry of diverse media entities and enhanced individual accessibility to information—affect voter polarization. The result finds that that media market competition indeed influences voter polarization, but surprisingly, exhibits an inverse U-shaped relationship.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hwang, Young Sun"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Political Science, PhD","degree_level":"Restricted to Claremont Colleges Dissertation","degree_discipline":"School of Social Science, Politics, and Evaluation","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Melissa Rogers","Carlos Algara"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2025-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:41:17Z","subjects":["Political Science"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/1077","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Melissa Rogers","Carlos Algara"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hwang, Young Sun"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2026-05-18T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["School of Social Science, Politics, and Evaluation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Restricted to Claremont Colleges Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Political Science, PhD"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Political Science"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/1077"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Democracy thrives on compromise. However, in recent years, growing political polarization in many countries increasingly hinders political cooperation and fuels conflict among citizens. This research proposes an agent-based theoretical framework demonstrating how the dynamic interaction between voters and an evolving media landscape influences ideological divergence at the individual level. Extending existing literature which attributes voter polarization as top-down procedure where polarization among elites shaping ideological polarization on electorates, this study theorizes that it can also emerge from the bottom-up. Specifically, I investigate how significant shifts in media market structure—characterized by increased entry of diverse media entities and enhanced individual accessibility to information—affect voter polarization. The result finds that that media market competition indeed influences voter polarization, but surprisingly, exhibits an inverse U-shaped relationship.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Feedback Loops of Influence: An Agent-Based Simulation of Media-Voter Dynamics and Political Polarization"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Melissa Rogers","Carlos Algara"],"dc:creator":["Hwang, Young Sun"],"dc:date.available":["2026-05-18T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Democracy thrives on compromise. However, in recent years, growing political polarization in many countries increasingly hinders political cooperation and fuels conflict among citizens. This research proposes an agent-based theoretical framework demonstrating how the dynamic interaction between voters and an evolving media landscape influences ideological divergence at the individual level. Extending existing literature which attributes voter polarization as top-down procedure where polarization among elites shaping ideological polarization on electorates, this study theorizes that it can also emerge from the bottom-up. Specifically, I investigate how significant shifts in media market structure—characterized by increased entry of diverse media entities and enhanced individual accessibility to information—affect voter polarization. The result finds that that media market competition indeed influences voter polarization, but surprisingly, exhibits an inverse U-shaped relationship.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/1077"],"dc:subject":["Political Science"],"dc:title":["Feedback Loops of Influence: An Agent-Based Simulation of Media-Voter Dynamics and Political Polarization"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["School of Social Science, Politics, and Evaluation"],"thesis:degree_level":["Restricted to Claremont Colleges Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Political Science, PhD"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:41:17Z"}