Institutions and Media Use in Democratizing Countries: The Czech-Slovak Case as a Quasi-Experiment

Using original survey data from the early democratization period in Central and Eastern Europe, I compare the choice of media for individuals’ informational demands in the context of differently evolved media environments. Using the quasi-experimental setting of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the findings show that individuals who express higher levels of interest in staying informed on politics were more likely to use public rather than privatizing media. Further, in the context of the multi-level design, this media preference is consistent regardless of the differing extents of privatization between the countries. This analysis adds further empirical evidence for the ongoing debate on the role of mass media and the process of political socialization in democratizing countries.