Go Fix It: Comedy as an Agent of Political Activation

Leticia Bode and Amy B. Becker

Social Science Quarterly, 2018, vol. 99, issue 5, 1572-1584

Abstract: Objective One of the recent late‐night political comedy successes is John Oliver's Last Week Tonight, which includes frequent calls to action at the end of a segment, encouraging viewers to do something about the problem they have just learned about. Methods Using an experimental design, this study investigates the effects of these calls to action on the likelihood of engaging with the issue of net neutrality. Results Findings suggest that exposure to political comedy activates viewers to engage in small but meaningful behaviors, but does not spill over to encourage more difficult political behaviors, nor does it boost political efficacy. Conclusion The call to action, encouraging viewer participation in remedying a problem addressed in a political comedy show, seems effective at encouraging viewers to participate. However, it may not make them feel more equipped to do so.

Date: 2018
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