ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the relationship between Internet exposure and political beliefs. It addresses these debates about the influence of the Internet on political beliefs by analyzing two distinct forms of communication, namely, horizontal communication among netizens and vertical communication through e-government establishment. The chapter focuses on a person's democratic orientation and level of regime support. China's socialist regime is conventionally viewed as everything opposite of democracy, which makes one suppose that supporters for this regime automatically oppose democratic norms. It also examines the two latent concepts one's attitudes toward the key components of the civic political culture and the socialist ideology are included in a principal component analysis (PCA). Four specific aspects of exposure to online communication are incorporated namely; Internet time, Internet age, exposure to e-government, and exposure to horizontal information sources online, comprehensively describe Internet exposure to communication. The results across four models demonstrate the Internet influences political beliefs through exposure to specific vertical and horizontal political communications.
