How Does Internet Use Affect the Farmers' Trust in Local Government: Evidence from China

The rapid spread of the internet in rural China in the 21st century has fundamentally reshaped the operation of the Chinese rural political system in ways that are at least as profound as television half a century ago. This study used the data of 8754 farmers from 2018 China Family Panel Studies (CF...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2023-02, Vol.20 (4), p.3489
Main Authors: Wei, Suhao, Lu, Yangxiao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
21st century
Analysis
China
Conspiracy
Economic reform
False information
Farmers
Gossip
Hypotheses
Information sources
Internet
Local government
Mediation
Performance evaluation
Political behavior
Political psychology
Public interest
Public officials
Social networks
Success
Television
Television news
Trust
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Summary:The rapid spread of the internet in rural China in the 21st century has fundamentally reshaped the operation of the Chinese rural political system in ways that are at least as profound as television half a century ago. This study used the data of 8754 farmers from 2018 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in China to examine and provide empirical evidence on how internet use affects farmers' trust in local government via a chain-mediation model. The results indicate that internet use erodes farmers' trust in local government. Internet use is more likely to cause young and highly educated farmers to lose trust in local government. Both views on people's livelihood problems and government performance evaluations play mediating roles between internet use and farmers' trust in local government. Further, we also found that the negative direct impact of internet use on farmers' trust in local government is also serial mediated by views on people's livelihood problems and government performance evaluations. The results expand the research on the factors influencing trust in government.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph20043489