| dc.description.abstract | An informed citizenry and effective political participation are key pillars of democracy. In developing democracies such as Kenya, radio is a major source of political news that serves as a key resource for women’s electoral participation. Despite women’s exposure to radio, through which they can access political news, their scope of political participation in Kakamega County is limited, which has marginalized this large population of the electorate in this area. In 2013, women constituted 50.6% of the 568,151 registered voters in Kakamega County, which has a higher female population than males in Kenya. As a county with high radio reach and listenership, there is a need to investigate the nexus between women voters’ exposure to radio and their political participation. Thus, the aim of this research was to examine the influence of exposure to radio on women voters’ political participation in the 2013 Kenya general election in Kakamega County. The specific objectives of the study were to: establish the direct effect of exposure to radio on women voters’ political participation; assess the mediating role of political knowledge in the correlation between women voters’ exposure to radio and political participation; determine the intervening effect of political attitudes on the influence of exposure to radio on women voters’ political participation; and examine the mediating role of the frequency of interpersonal political discussions in the correlation between women voters’ exposure to radio and political participation in the 2013 polls in Kakamega County. Guided by a conceptual framework anchored on political mobilization and uses and gratifications theories, the study variables were exposure to the radio as a predictor, political knowledge and attitudes and the frequency of interpersonal political discussions as mediators and political participation as an outcome variable. This study used an explanatory sequential mixed-methods research design. Multi-stage sampling and Yamane’s sample size formula were employed to select 400 of the 287,325 female voters in Kakamega County. Data were collected using a questionnaire, focus group discussions (FGDs) and document reviews. Quantitative data analyzed by SPSS version 21.0 and PROCESS Macro for SPSS version 3.2.01 using descriptive and inferential statistics are presented in tables and bar charts. Qualitative data from the FGDs was thematically analyzed and presented in narrative descriptions and verbatim quotes. The quantitative results established a statistically significant low positive correlation between women voters’ exposure to radio and political participation. This correlation was positively mediated by political knowledge. It was further determined that political interest and not internal political efficacy intervened in this relationship. The frequency of interpersonal political discussions played no mediating role in this correlation. These findings were corroborated and enriched by the qualitative results from the FGDs. The study concludes that the influence of exposure to radio on women voters’ political participation is both direct and indirect, with the latter pathway mediated by political knowledge and interest. The study recommends that radio stations continually broadcast civic, voter and political education programmes tailored to women voters’ information needs, schedules and political attitudes to promote their political participation throughout the country’s five-year electoral cycle. The results of this study may be used to develop national policies on broadcasting, media and information literacy in government efforts to promote women’s political participation in Kenya. The findings also provide insights that can enrich editorial policy guidelines and programming strategies for civic and voter education and election coverage on radio targeting women voters in Kenya.
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