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Title: The Political Legacy of Entertainment TV

Author(s): Ruben Durante, Paolo Pinotti and Andrea Tesei

Publication Date: July 2015

Keyword(s): entertainment, Italy, political participation, television and voting

Programme Area(s): Public Economics

Abstract: We study the political impact of entertainment television in Italy exploiting the staggered introduction of Berlusconi's commercial TV network, Mediaset, in the early 1980s. We find that individuals with early access to Mediaset all-entertainment content were more likely to vote for Berlusconi's party in 1994, when he first ran for offce. The effect persists for five elections and is driven by heavy TV viewers, namely the very young and the elders. Regarding possible mechanisms, we find that individuals exposed to entertainment TV as children were less cognitively sophisticated and civic-minded as adults, and ultimately more vulnerable to Berlusconi's populist rhetoric.

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Bibliographic Reference

Durante, R, Pinotti, P and Tesei, A. 2015. 'The Political Legacy of Entertainment TV'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=10738