Knowledge and information translate into social power. Lack of knowledge can result in exclusion from social resources, thus leading to a lack of social power and eventually undermining democracy. Previous findings demonstrate that the gap in political knowledge based on socioeconomic status (SES) is produced by the difference in newspaper reading between classes. Some findings have indicated that the Internet is reproducing the existing patterns of political communication, further increasing the gap between social classes. Although these results have been extensively confirmed outside Asia, the cultural context of Asian countries can often be sufficiently distinctive to differ from tendencies in other parts of the world concerning the social context of media use. This study examines whether different forms of news media function to increase the gap in political knowledge between socioeconomic classes in East Asia. In particular, given the significant rise in the number of Asians who rely on the Internet for political information, we focus on the effect of the use of Internet on the knowledge gap between socioeconomic levels. We find that Internet use appears to significantly increase SES-based gaps in political knowledge in Japan, but not Korea.

The Kingdom of Bhutan, located in the Himalayas, closed its doors to foreign countries until the 1960s. After it reopened, Bhutan was a modern state for half a century. In 2008, the King of Bhutan decided to relinquish his power and democratize the country. It was an unprecedented event in history.

On the other hand, there was no mass media in this tiny country until the 1990s. In 1999, the King lifted the ban on information technology such as television and the Internet. It was a rare case where television broadcasting and Internet services commenced at the same time.

This study illustrates the history of democracy and the media in Bhutan and examines the correlation between them. Before commencing with such an examination, the theoretical stream of the relationship between democracy and the media in modern history should be reviewed.

The primary section of this paper comprises field research and analysis regarding the National Assembly election of Bhutan in 2013, as a case study of the practice of democracy. The research questions are as follows: ‘What was the role of Bhutanese media in this election?’; ‘What kind of information led Bhutanese voters to decision making?’

In conclusion, the theoretical model and the Bhutanese practical model of the relationship between the government, media, and citizens are compared. This comparison shows the progress of democracy and the role of the media in modern-day Bhutan.