Surfing the Net: a pathway to political participation without motivation? Rosa Borge and Ana Sofía Cardenal ∗ Political Science Lecturers. Internet Interdisciplinary Institute IN3. Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. Barcelona. rborge@uoc.edu acardenal@uoc.edu Paper prepared for delivery at the Conference “Internet, Politics and Policy 2010: An Impact Assessment”. Oxford Internet Institute. University of Oxford. 16-17 September 2010. Abstract In this article, we aim to investigate the relationship that exists between use of the Internet, motivation and political participation. In particular, we want to find out if use of the Internet, by reducing participation costs, changes the importance given to motivation in the classic explanations of participation. In order to examine this issue, we have used data from survey 2736 of the Spanish Sociological Research Centre (CIS) which deals with political participation and the uses of the Internet. We find that the use of Internet has a direct effect on participation independently of motivation and that in order to participate at least in one activity online the frequent and skilful internet users do not need to be motivated or interested in politics. INTRODUCTION Use of the Internet has generated a widespread and controversial debate on its effects on political participation. This new medium has very powerful characteristics which lead one to think that it may directly or indirectly affect political participation. On the one hand, the Internet has led to an unprecedented increase in the volume of information available. Although there is still debate as to whether the information-rich environment created by the Internet has increased or decreased information costs (Bimber, 2001, 2003; Anduiza, Gallego and Jorba, 2009), whatever its effects on information may be, it is likely that they will have consequences for participation. On the other hand, the Internet is an interactive medium which increases contact options extremely efficiently in terms of time investment ∗ With the collaboration of Claudia Malpica. 1