Productive Cynics: How Satire Affects Millennial Political Participation in Canada

Political satire is experiencing a global renaissance, with a plethora of content available in print, on television, and online. Scholars across a variety of disciplines have begun exploring the implications of this phenomenon. In political science, a growing body of research focuses on how and why satire affects political participation. Building on this scholarship, this dissertation asks: how does satire affect the political participation of millennials in Canada? I focus on Canadians born from the early 1980s until the late 1990s because of their comparative affinity for satirical content. I explore the Canadian context because of the widespread appeal of political comedy across the country, both historically and in the present day. I argue that political comedy has positive participatory effects, with a plurality of satire consumers becoming more engaged with politics on account of consuming this content. I label this “productive cynicism,” which I define as a sense of frustration with the political status quo coupled with a desire to become engaged nonetheless. I use a mixed methods approach featuring a national survey and focus groups. The data in this project reveal the following: a) satire is a popular form of political communication across Canada, with over half of millennials regularly consuming it; b) a plurality of satire-watching millennials have engaged in politics specifically on account of satire; c) viewers of satire most commonly feel cynical after watching it, but the next most common attitudinal reactions after cynicism are associated with empowerment and motivation rather than apathy and discouragement as one might expect; and d) when someone experiences negative emotions and increased political efficacy as a result of watching satire, participation in politics becomes more likely. These findings have significant normative implications. In the face of growing illiberal headwinds from which established democracies are not immune, it is imperative we broaden our understanding of how young people form their political attitudes, where they get their information, what drives them to engage productively in the political process, and the role that modes of political communication such as satire play in shaping these outcomes.

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