Date of Award

2025

Degree Type

Restricted to Claremont Colleges Dissertation

Degree Name

Political Science, PhD

Program

School of Social Science, Politics, and Evaluation

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair

Mark Abdollahian

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Melissa Rogers

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Carlos Algara

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2025 Young Sun Hwang

Subject Categories

Political Science

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.

ISBN

9798293831579

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