Formal political process and democracy are depend heavily on effective communication and properly conveyed decisions making regarding political issues between citizens, politicians and other stakeholders as these are the people who can be affected with collective political decisions [1]. Free and fair electoral process, separation of powers, guarantee of basic human rights and involvement of citizens at every step in the activities of decision- making is the real essence of democracy. Democratic environment creates atmosphere of debate which gives a concrete shape to development, peace and harmony [2]. Democracy has its globally acceptable norms; with universal regimes of equality irrespective of race, creed and culture. This is the utmost universal right of individual with the basic criteria of transparency, freedom of expression, responsiveness and equality [3]. Democracy creates an environment which is suitable for citizen participation and opposition to the elected officials [4]. ICTs, internet and digital media have altered the ways of political participation [5] and the advent of modern technologies opens new windows to take part in politics that one can’t even imagine [6]. The digital and the growth of electronic infrastructure have provided the opportunity to communicate, publish and to learn on a huge scale. With the inception of ICTs, it is crystal clear that it has provided the basic and fundamental changes in the available infrastructure. Now young generation is in position to take extra ordinary benefit from digital technologies then earlier generations [7]. The selection and action process of political representation can be influenced by the political participation of the citizens, because it is said that it is a fluid concept. It can be stated in these words also, that the views of public be understood by the representation when they take any decision during political process [8]. A normative conception of young people’s participation, defining political participation broadly is about engaging in generating opinions and taking actions in order to bring about positive change in the society [6].

Politics and civil society are under the significant influence of new digital technology especially the internet. They are considered to be the challenge for political scientists to adopt conventional concepts and reexamine the recognized manifestation of the behaviours and attitudes. New avenues and new form of online participation are possible through internet [9]. Digital literacy does not alter political process by its mere presence but accelerate the function of prevailing political tendencies. In this respect ICTs are providing new means for involvement of young citizen by permitting them to take advantages from new and easy cost effective media. Citizens are now able to easily connect with politicians and with each other, and obtain a large range of information to make informed decisions regarding a wide range of issues. A large number of young communities uses internet in order to enhance its capacity and to discover alternative views by cultivating the citizenship. The scholars of positive views claim that digital technologies enhance interest, debates, political education and voting [10].

Students’ political participation

Participation is the basic element of human right. In this context, the role of youth for social change is always energetic and radical. Public participation is the real essence of democracy, through which the life pattern of community can be improved and it gives better futuristic approach. Although there are different opinions regarding the meaning of civic engagement but it is usually defined as to have focus on participation of diverse condition in the economic, social, ecological and political circumstances. The group young citizens may contribute by constructing, reforming and informing a society that will work for their being and to promote a conductive environment of equity, and participation. Civic involvement is the most vital and accepted element of youth growth as it builds human as well as to educate them and also save social capital in connection with their civic and political rights and responsibilities [2]. Young people’s participation refers to youth engagement in decision making process from which, traditionally, they have been excluded participation policies are intimately connected with distinct theoretical approaches to both youth and the citizenship. There has also been increasing interest that the internet can encourage youth participation in democracy [5]. Young citizens may contribute by informing, reforming, and constructing a society that will contribute to their wellbeing and promotion of equity and inclusiveness. Young people civic engagement is also increasingly accepted as a vital component of youth development because it can help build human as well as social capital and educate people regarding their political and the civic rights, as well as their responsibilities as citizens [6]. Public opinion or political results are inflected by the participation of youth in democratic process, on individual and combined levels. It can be eased by government and other non-state actors where thoughtful plans and processes for their engagement in the mechanism of decision making [5]. Youth participation in other words nourishes a strong sense of citizenship which builds that process clearer and answerable towards youth. At the same time it facilitates the quality of self-defence in youth, promote a sense of initiative and to obtain the capability that will be related to work place, like communication, negotiation or team-work, in a practical environment [11]. The advent of new digital technology has come to the surface which penetrates and facilitates the objective of participation. It also gives growth to its cross border capacity and unable them to coordinate for political influence even at transnational level which was only a dream before a decade. The internet gives new opportunities for new forms of online participation. It is also universally accepted that Internet modifies and often reduces costs of information and participation online, and that the technological resources and the skills are vital for online participation [9]. Males usually tend to edge out females as users of technology, and this differs by country. For instance, there is a higher percentage of female than male users in the USA [12].

Political membership and mobility

Politics and civil society are under the significant influence of new digital technology especially the internet. It is considered to be the challenge for political scientists to adopt conventional concepts and re examine the recognized manifestation of the behaviours and attitudes. New avenues and new form of online participation are possible through internet [9]. Digital literacy does not alter political process by its mere presence but accelerate the function of prevailing political tendencies. In this respect ICTs are providing new means for involvement of young citizen by permitting them to take advantages from new and easy cost effective media. Citizens are now able to easily connect with politicians and with each other, and obtain a large range of information to make informed decisions regarding a wide range of issues. A large number of young community uses internet in order to enhance its capacity and to discover alternative views by cultivating the citizenship. The scholars of positive views claim that digital technologies enhance interest, debates, political education and voting [10]. Fungs argues that different practices of participation are more advantageous than traditional ways of equitable and unbiased results. Digital technology encourages the involvement of citizens in the process of policy making, governance. In this context, political membership and mobility can be enhanced with e-participation because it has the capacity to improve the relationship between youth and policy makers [10]. Engaging youth can be rewarding on many levels. Young citizens who participate in social activities enjoy the opportunity to benefit personally by being socially productive: they increase a democratic or civic attitude and build leadership skills; they gain knowledge and confidence; they are directed towards relationship building; they gain respect and appreciation from peers and adults; they are empowered in order to improve themselves and the communities where they live in.

Voting behaviour

General free and transparent elections with regular interval are the real essence of democracy, because they enable the general masses to express their will for the promotion of actual democratic environment. The voting behaviour of the young people can be enhanced with the universal suffrage with equal and secret ballot system to elect members of parliament in an open and transparent environment. Political and civil rights are vital and essential, among them as rights to freedom of assembly and expression, rights to vote, rights to organize political party, rights to be elected and access to information and carry out political campaigns for that very purpose [3]. People are addressing their claims to the public authority and legislative body, and also having control on political decision making in elections by electing a candidate whose political manifesto seems to match best their personal preferences [6]. In recent years, young women, mostly college educated young women, have voted and volunteered more and been more civically engaged than young male matching part. In 2004, 18-29 year old female voters were more likely to identify with Democratic Party while young male voters were identified with Republican Party. Young male voters were also more probable to recognize as Independent than female corresponding persons. Alongwith voters age 75 or older, voters ages 18 to 29 were the only other age group to support John Kerry in the last fall’s presidential election [13]. The Internet brought majority of the voters into the political processes and produced a more fact based election process in South Korea. Internet accessibility has also become a stronger factor in order to explain increased voter participation. A survey conducted by the center for the Civic Education of Pakistan 2009, it has reported that a huge number of young people constituting 61.8% have their trust in the democratic process of peaceful exchange of powers and their vote has the power to bring sustainable change in a smooth way. Although the majority of youth 62.8% are of the view that their vote has the capacity to bring positive change in democratic process of Pakistan, while 37.2% are pessimistic about the role of their vote. In different parts of the motherland statistics shows that Azad Jammu Kashmir have secured great number of percentage i.e. 88% then all other provinces and capital area of the Pakistan. In the break up we can mention that in Punjab the ratio was 67.8% while KP 61.5% in Baluchistan 60.7% while in Islamabad and Sindh 54.3% are of the view that change can be possible through their ballot paper [13].

Research design

A close scrutiny of the social research methodologies shows that survey is the best way for collecting primary data through interviews and questionnaire of people about their thinking and attitudes. In social sciences survey, approach is the most commonly used way of observation [14]. It is the potential and characteristic of survey approach that authorizes the researcher to gather data relevant to the topic, in order to answer the questions relating to that topic [15]. The political scientists and scholars have always thought that the survey approach is an excellent means for measuring attitude in huge population, especially in case of human and social topics [16]. A survey is a consistent approach of collecting data. Survey research is greatly helpful in documenting existing community conditions, features of a population, and community thinking. Both qualitative and quantitative data are included in the research. The students of the Gomal and Qurtuba Universities (D I Khan (KP) studying in public and private sector respectively constitute the target population. The major characteristics of the population include a diversity of demographic attributes. There are two types of Universities including Public Sector (Gomal) and Private Sector (Qurtuba) with students of different gender, age, residence, qualifications and social status. All the students of these two Universities [N = 2741] form our target population for this study. Sample is that part of population which is selected for data collection therefore it has to be representative of all the elements of a population [17]. So in order to obtain statistical error in the data of respondents, a pilot study was conducted. Outcomes of pilot study were utilized in the formula for sample-selection, verification of the variables, testing of questionnaire, and generation of hypotheses. Sample size from finite population formula was used [all Masters level senior students = 2741], a sample of 193 was selected. 121 questionnaires were filled and recollected after distribution process, so the 63% was the response rate. The sample size was selected by the researcher by using the following formula, from a finite population: [(SD2)/(E2/z2)+(SD2/N))] (Table 1) SPSS 17 helped in creating the data base and statistical analysis. It is also pertinent to mention here that all the students of these universities form our target population of this study. T-test is applied for hypothesis testing on the grounds that each dependent variable has two sample groups in this research project besides population SD is also known [18].

Table 1: Seven point scales is used for data collection.

Demographic impacts

This demographic impacts are briefly explained in Tables 2 and 3.

Table 2: The Demographic Attributes (Independent variables).

Table 3: The Research Variables.

Findings of the study

The findings of the study are explained in descriptive results.

Descriptive results

These descriptive results are shown in Tables 4-7.

Table 4: Classification across Institution.

Table 5: Classification across Qualification.

Table 6: Classification across Gender.

Table 7: Classification across Domicile.

Testing of hypotheses

Role of gender in mean differences (t-Tests)

As evident from the above table, given that males and females are scoring higher on three variables each the emerging hypothesis will therefore be: Hypothesis # 1: The males and females are scoring higher on three variables each H₁ (Table 8).

Table 8: Table of Mean Differences.

To test the mean differences between gender i.e. males and females samples, T-test procedure was used on six test variables (Digital Literacy, Internet, Mobile services, Political Role of ICTs, Political Membership and Mobility and Voting behaviour). According to the table of mean differences (Table 5) the male and female respondents are giving higher scores on three variables each. The results of six T-tests (Table 5) are giving insignificant results for Digital Literacy, (P-value 0.434), Internet (P-value 0.940), Mobile Services (P-value 0.902), Political Role of ICTs (P-value 0.435), and Voting Behaviour (P-value 0.366) while significant result for Political Membership and Mobility (P-value 0.015). It is therefore concluded that there are insignificant mean differences between the gender impacts on all the five variables. Hypothesis # 1 is therefore partially accepted as true.

Role of residence in mean differences (t-Test)

As evident from the above table, that Rural respondents are scoring lower than Urban respondents on all the research variables, therefore, the emerging hypothesis will be: Hypothesis # 2: The rural respondents are scoring lower than urban respondents H₂ (Tables 9 and 10).

Table 9: Test Statistics of Gender Impacts.

Table 10: Table of Mean Differences.

Results

To test the mean differences between urban and rural residence samples, T-test procedure was used on six test variables (Digital Literacy, Internet, Mobile services, Political Role of ICTs, Political Membership and Mobility and Voting behaviour). According to the table of mean differences the rural respondents are giving lower scores than the urban respondents (Table 11). The results of six T-tests are giving insignificant results for Digital Literacy (P-value 0.671), Internet (P-value 0.064), Mobile Services (P-value 0.844), Political Membership and Mobility (P-value 0.051) and Voting Behaviour (P-value 0.399) while significant for Political Role of ICTs (P-value 0.034). It is, therefore, decided that there are insignificant mean differences between the resident impacts on the five variables. Hypothesis # 2 is therefore partially true.

Table 11: Test Statistics of Residence Impacts.

Change in response based on qualification (t-Tests)

As evident from the above table, the Graduates are scoring higher than Masters or above on all the research variables: therefore, the emerging hypothesis will be: Hypothesis # 3: The Predictors Explain the Change in Criterion Variable. H₃ (Tables 12 and 13).

Table 12: Table of Mean Differences.

Table 13: Test Statistics of Qualification Effects.

Results

To test the mean differences between Graduates and Masters or above samples, T-test procedure was used on six test variables (Digital Literacy, Internet, Mobile services, Political Role of ICTs, Political Membership and Mobility and Voting behaviour). According to the table of mean differences (Table 7) the Graduates are giving higher scores than the Masters or above respondents. The results of T-tests (Table 7) are giving significant result for Internet (P-value 0.002), Political Membership and Mobility (P-value 0.001), Mobile (P-value 0.015) and Voting Behaviour (P-value 0.018), however insignificant for Digital Literacy (P-value 0.555), Political Role of ICTs (P-value 0.519). Hypothesis # 3 is therefore partially accepted as true.

Role of institution in the change of opinion (t-Tests)

As evident from the above table (Table 8), given that Private Sector University (Qurtuba) is scoring slightly higher than Public Sector University (Gomal) on various research variables the emerging hypothesis will therefore be: Hypothesis # 4: The Private Sector institution is scoring slightly higher than Public Sector institution H₄ (Tables 14 and 15).

Table 14: Table of Mean Differences.

Table 15: Test Statistics.

Results

To test the mean differences between institutions i.e. Qurtuba University and Gomal University samples, T-test procedure was used on six test variables (Digital Literacy, Internet, Mobile services, Political Role of ICTs, Political Membership & Mobility and Voting behaviour). According to the table of mean differences (Table 8) the institution Qurtuba University is giving higher scores than the Gomal University respondents. The results of six T-tests are giving insignificant results for Digital Literacy (P-value 0.700) Internet (P-value 0.133), Mobile Services (P-value 0.083), Political Role of ICTs (P-value 0.411), Political Membership and Mobility (P-value 0.445) and Voting Behavior (P-value 0.681). It is therefore decided that there are insignificant mean differences between the institutions on all the six variables. Hypothesis # 4 is therefore rejected.

In the current study the effects of gender, residence, institution and qualification on political e-participation of the University Graduates were explored through analysing the first-hand data collected through a survey-instrument extracted from the existing literature. The demographic attributes affect performance attitudes, absenteeism and turnover intention. Various studies report multiplicity of demographic variables affecting respondent behavior include: gender, age, education, marital status, income, experience, supervisory style, organizational politics, work stress and match between qualification and work place environment. Researchers also approved that demographic attributes have been approved as the critical factors that bring variations in all the respondent attitudes. Institutions showed insignificant association with the predictors and dependent variables, and it was found that students of public and private institutions have similar aptitude towards independent and dependent variables. It can be said that institutions have no significant impact on the responses of respondents. Therefore, public institutions and private institutions are not significantly diverse in their reactions and responses. On the other hand, Internet and Political Membership and Mobility established significant relationship with qualification, but insignificant results for Digital Literacy, Mobile, and voting behaviour. One may therefore conclude that qualification has an impact on the research variables to some extent. In like manner, Gender is also significant only for Political Membership and Mobility while insignificant for other 5 variables. The demographic variable Residence was also significant only for one variable out of six variables i.e. Political Role of ICTs. In every social research, researcher checks the impact of demographic attributes on independent and dependent variables. It has been noticed that researchers, irrespective of location, whether they belong to developing countries or developed countries check the influence of demographic attributes on research variables, through survey approach. It can be said that demographics attributes have no worthy impacts on this research study, which shows that today there is no difference between rural and urban areas so far as the penetration of knowledge is concerned. Furthermore, education has no discrimination in connection with gender, and has not, colour, creed, and geographical locations. In primitive ages the impact of demographic attributes were observed with great force, but with the advent of industrial revolution the difference of demographic attributes were minimized in developed parts of the world. In developing countries like Pakistan in some areas of metropolitan the demographic impacts have no significant role but in rural and remote areas this difference can be observed easily. It will be pertinent to state that as existing literature shows that the involvement of male and female students (youth) has been enhanced due to the use of digital technologies in the process of election, in a same manner as our field survey also shows the same results. It means that digital technology accelerates the participation of rural and urban youth in political process of Pakistan. The report of Election Commission of Pakistan is an ample proof in this connection that the turnover was above 55% in the recent General Election 2013, while it was 44% in General Election 2008, 42% in 2002, and 36% in 1997. These results show that now the participation of general masses is as glaring as the moon. Consequently, gender, residence, income have no significance influence in political process. Literature advocates that the students (youth) activism in decision making process speedup their participation while our survey speaks loudly about the same.

The demographic variable Gender (H₁) is insignificant for five variables out of six, meaning that there is no difference in the responses of male and female on the issue and both having similar opinion. Therefore, Demographic attribute i.e. gender has no significant role in political process on the study. While on the other hand Residence (H₂) demographic variable is also insignificant for five variables, which means that the respondents of Urban and Rural areas have similar opinion on the Independent and Dependent variables. It means that Digital Literacy has melted all the geographical locations either developed or underdeveloped. Surprisingly, the demographic variable Qualification (H₃) is found significant for four variables (Internet, Political Membership & Mobility, Mobile and Voting Behaviour however insignificant for two variable (Digital Literacy, Political Role of ICTs). It is evident from the above results that there is contrast of opinions among Graduate respondents and Master Degree holder respondents. As it is said that knowledge is power, the survey of this research also shows the diverse opinion on part of qualification. The last Hypothesis (H₄) is about Institution which was insignificant for all six variables. There are insignificant mean differences, which show that both the institutions i.e. Public and Private sector university respondents have similar opinions on all the variables. Just as the objective of every institution is the dissemination of information, our study also shows that there are similar opinions of the respondents of both i.e. public and private institutes on all research variables. In summation, Gender, Residence and Institution have no significant impact of research variables, but qualification has an impact on the Independent and dependent variables.