Get Information or Get in Formation: The Effects of High-Information Environments on Legislative Elections

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Trussler
Keyword(s):  
Voting Behavior ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
The United States ◽  
Information Environment ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Incumbency Advantage ◽  
Broadband Internet ◽  
Congressional Districts ◽  
Roll Out

How does the changing information environment affect the degree to which voters make independent decisions for different offices on their ballots? Leveraging the gradual roll-out of broadband internet across the United States and across congressional districts, this study uses within-district variation over four election cycles to examine the effects of internet access on voting behavior in US legislative elections. The results show that the expansion of broadband resulted in less split-ticket voting and a lower incumbency advantage because voters exposed to increased high-speed internet voted in a more partisan fashion. Consistent with work demonstrating the effect of the internet on local news consumption, the results suggest that the change in the information environment resulting from enhanced internet access led voters to prioritize national considerations over local considerations. This has important consequences for not only how voters act, but the resulting incentives that elected officials confront.

scholarly journals Broadband Internet and Income Inequality

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Georges V. Houngbonon ◽  
Julienne Liang
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Instrumental Variable ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Broadband Internet ◽  
Instrumental Variable Estimation ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Digital technologies like the Internet can affect income inequality through increased demand for employment in manual and abstract jobs and reduced demand for employment in routine jobs. In this paper, we combine city-level income distribution and jobs data with broadband data from France to investigate the impact of broadband Internet access on income inequality. Using an instrumental variable estimation strategy, we find that broadband Internet reduces income inequality through increased employment in manual jobs. These effects increase with the availability of skilled workers and are significant in cities with a large service sector or high-speed Internet access. Further, the diffusion of broadband Internet comes with relatively greater benefits in low-income cities compared to high-income cities. Several robustness checks support these findings.

Redistricting and Electoral Competition in American Politics

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Electoral Competition ◽  
Congressional District ◽  
Incumbency Advantage ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Congressional Districts ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Supreme Court ◽  
The Relationship

Redistricting, or the process of redrawing congressional district boundaries, can be a highly contentious and political affair. Electoral competition within districts is dependent on both of the major American political parties being evenly balanced. Therefore, redistricting can enhance or diminish competition through how it distributes partisans across districts. Indeed, politicians have used this process to manipulate boundaries in their favor for centuries. In fact, the term most commonly used for exploiting the redistricting process for partisan gain—gerrymandering—was coined in 1812 as Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry signed legislation creating a map with heavily distorted districts, one of which resembled a salamander. Thus, the portmanteau “gerry-mander” was born. The misshapen districts produced the intended effect of facilitating greater electoral success for members of the governor’s party. Throughout history, Congress, the US Supreme Court, individual states, the American electorate, and an ever-evolving political environment have all impacted the construction of district maps. Additionally, each of these factors further influences the level of electoral competition within the district. Therefore, this work seeks to outline how redistricting can directly or indirectly influence electoral competition within congressional districts. Directly, different redistricting entities (legislatures, commissions, and courts) possess different motivations and constraints when drawing district lines, which can impact competition. Indirectly, redistricting can influence voting behavior and the incumbency advantage, which can also impact competition. This work also explores the tradeoff between representation and competition, the relationship between redistricting and polarization, what constitutes a gerrymander, and how durable redistricting plans are over time. Each can have a substantial impact on electoral competition, which in turn bears consequences for our understanding of the consequences of redistricting.

Diversification and Nuanced Inequities in Digital Media Use in the United States

2018 ◽  
pp. 1216-1237
Author(s):  
Eliane Rubinstein-Avila ◽  
Aurora Sartori
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
High Speed ◽  
The United States ◽  
Confounding Factors ◽  
Culturally Specific ◽  
Twitter Users ◽  
Digital Exclusion ◽  
Roll Out

This chapter explores access to, and engagement with, digital media by United States' (U.S.) by nonmainstream populations. Framing the issue from a sociotechnical standpoint, the authors explore how engagement with digital media is shaped by socioeconomic status (taking into account confounding factors, such as race and ethnicity, and social and geographical ecologies). The authors highlight studies that focus on the robust digital practices with which nonmainstream populations already engage, and to which they contribute. One example is how some black Twitter users engage in signifyin'–a culturally specific linguistic practice—as a means of performing racial identity online. The authors also problematize concepts such as the new digital divide and digital exclusion, and finally, reiterate that a universal roll-out of high speed broadband alone will not necessarily lead to further engagement with digital media for ALL populations. In fact, the authors claim that providing more or faster access is likely not enough to prevent the entrenchment of a global digital underclass.

The impact of high speed internet on reproductive behavior in Russia

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (6) ◽  
pp. 90-103
Author(s):  
Irina Kalabikhina ◽  
Imiliya Abduselimov ◽  
German Klimenko
Keyword(s):  
Instrumental Variables ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
Reproductive Age ◽  
Higher Vocational Education ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Broadband Internet ◽  
Fertility Choice ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect

The paper examines influence of high-speed (broadband) Internet on fertility choice analyzed Russian panel data based on RLMS-HSE from 2014 to 2018. Using an instrumental variables strategy that exploits variations of broadband Internet access for households we find that determined broadband internet use leads to a positive effect on fertility for women of older reproductive age (from 25 to 49) and birth of second and further child is more affected. We attribute this effect to the ability of teleworking and building a better work-life balance. From our results this mechanism is relevant only for women with secondary and higher vocational education, that are more likely to work in professions with a higher probability of telework.

scholarly journals Investigations for broadband internet within high-speed trains

2005 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 247-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Gaspard ◽  
G. Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Systematic Approach ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Multimedia Services ◽  
Broadband Internet ◽  
Channel Simulation ◽  
High Speeds ◽  
High Speed Trains ◽  
Terminal Equipment

Abstract. Broadband IP-based multimedia services are rapidly growing and there is the trend to use these services everywhere. Due to the fact that passengers in long distance high speed trains have a very comfortable environment to use their own terminal equipment, e.g. laptops with IEEE802.11×WLAN capability, it seems to be very promising to deliver broadband internet into trains. The challenge is the land-train connection where a high bit data rate link, e.g. 1Mbps in average in up- and downlink, has to be provided to enable several users within the train broadband internet access at the same time even at high speeds of the train. This paper describes a systematic approach starting at basic propagation measurements in a typical train environment and ending up with lab investigations by means of hardware channel simulation for different existing radio technologies which are candidates for the land-train connection.

Diversification and Nuanced Inequities in Digital Media Use in the United States

2016 ◽  
pp. 560-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliane Rubinstein-Avila ◽  
Aurora Sartori
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
High Speed ◽  
The United States ◽  
Confounding Factors ◽  
Culturally Specific ◽  
Twitter Users ◽  
Digital Exclusion ◽  
Roll Out

This chapter explores access to, and engagement with, digital media by United States' (U.S.) by nonmainstream populations. Framing the issue from a sociotechnical standpoint, the authors explore how engagement with digital media is shaped by socioeconomic status (taking into account confounding factors, such as race and ethnicity, and social and geographical ecologies). The authors highlight studies that focus on the robust digital practices with which nonmainstream populations already engage, and to which they contribute. One example is how some black Twitter users engage in signifyin'–a culturally specific linguistic practice—as a means of performing racial identity online. The authors also problematize concepts such as the new digital divide and digital exclusion, and finally, reiterate that a universal roll-out of high speed broadband alone will not necessarily lead to further engagement with digital media for ALL populations. In fact, the authors claim that providing more or faster access is likely not enough to prevent the entrenchment of a global digital underclass.

Inter-Party Constituency Differences and Congressional Voting Behavior

1963 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lewis A. Froman
Keyword(s):  
Voting Behavior ◽  
National Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
Congressional Districts ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
Party Differences ◽  
Democrats And Republicans

Academic studies of roll-call voting in Congress have tended to stress two factors: (1) the substantial degree of party cohesion in Congress on most issues, and (2) the importance of constituency factors in explaining deviations from party votes within parties. These studies indicate that party is the single most important predictor of roll-call behavior, and that constituency factors explain most of the deviation from party votes. No such study, however, describes constituency differences between Democrats and Republicans on the national level—that is, inter-party differences on constituency variables as opposed to intra-party differences. We will attempt, in this study, to demonstrate that differences between Democrats and Republicans are not merely a matter of party label or ideology (few really contend otherwise), but that they are rooted in basic differences in the kinds of constituencies from which Democrats and Republicans come. We will then go on to show that these constituency factors are also important in explaining intra-party differences in voting in Congress, but only by way of supporting the hypothesis that party voting patterns reflect constituency differences.The general theory underlying this analysis posits gross relationships between sociological variables and political behavior, especially in democratic systems which permit relatively wide latitude in political activity. Since shared attitudes about various problems confronting people are often the result of sharing similar environments, and since economic and social environments vary widely in the United States, it is not surprising to find people located in similar environments choosing up sides in similar ways on matters of public policy, and differing with those who do not share the same environment. These effects should be most noticeable in relatively small areas, such as congressional districts.

US digital divide will not be easily bridged

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Inner City ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Low Income ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Broadband Internet ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Divides ◽  
The Us

Subject The US digital divide over broadband internet access and its implications. Significance A digital divide between those that can use the internet at broadband speeds and those that cannot is persisting. Impacts Government support for digital provision will likely include direct public sector spending and opportunities for private firms. Expanded digital provision will benefit the currently underserved rural and low-income inner-city areas. Those without access to high speed internet will be disadvantaged in terms of education and accessing jobs. Expansion of 5G could exacerbate digital divides: affluent areas may be connected first, absent incentives to do otherwise.

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