This paper extends understanding of the relationship between media use and attitudes toward democratic values. We employ the two-step estimation approach to examine the relationship between media use and attitudes toward democratic values as well as consequential association with political participation. The empirical results show that media use to obtain news information is positively related to attitudes toward democratic values. The findings also note that attitudes toward democratic values are positively associated with engagement in politics. The results support the argument that media use is significant for shaping citizens’ attitudes toward democratic values by providing information about public affairs and expanding citizens’ understanding about democratic politics. As such, media use facilitates democratic socialization and leads to more involvement in political behaviors.

Scholars of distributive politics in Japan have shifted from large items in the general account budget to more geographically targeted spending known as intergovernmental transfers. However, a portion of the funds sent to prefectural governments are ostensibly determined by the apolitical ‘financial index’. However, even though the financial index is included in most studies of intergovernmental transfers, only slight attention focuses on the financial index and its determination. Using prefectural level data on intergovernmental transfers, economic indicators and electoral support for the LDP, this research shows that the LDP possesses strong incentives to manipulate the index and that politics is a significant determinant of the financial index.

This study examines the effects of personality traits on voter turnout in South Korea. While it has been demonstrated that no direct relationships exist between personality traits and voter participation in South Korea, we argue that personality traits have indirect effects on turnout through such attitudinal factors as political interest, political efficacy, partisanship, and ideology. Using data from Korean General Social Survey (KGSS) 2012, we find that political interest and political efficacy play an important role in mediating the relationships between personality traits and voter turnout in South Korea. However, contrary to our expectations, there is either weak or no evidence on the mediating role of partisanship and ideology in the relationships between personality traits and voter turnout. To sum up, our findings provide some support to the indirect relationships between personality traits and voter turnout in South Korea and imply that the impacts of personality traits on voter participation vary by country or geographic region.

Values and elements of popular culture play an important role in shaping and implementing the foreign policy of Iran. In this paper, using content analysis and after explaining the characteristics of Iranian identity, the author seeks to investigate the implications of Iranian social beliefs on foreign policy. In other words, the author sets out to explore whether the perceptions and attitudes of Iranian identity at different historical periods have been the basis according to which Iranian politicians have followed the same model or not? For this purpose, three major components, the influence in the regional area, xenophobia, and conspiracy theorythat are complementary in nature, have been selected. Research findings illustrate that the long history of societies like Iran has been the raison d'etre for the recurrence of social beliefs and values in various political eras of such societies.