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Wired Voters: The Effects of Internet Use on Voters’ Electoral Uncertainty

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  • Sudulich, Laura
  • Wall, Matthew
  • Baccini, Leonardo

Abstract

This article examines whether voters’ use of the internet as a source of political news affects the extent to which they are certain of their vote choice in national-level elections. It employs data pertaining to the 2011 general election in Ireland, linking geographical information on broadband coverage with individual-level public opinion data from the 2011 Irish National Election Study. The resultant dataset allows the adoption of a quasi-experimental approach in our examination of the effects of online political newsgathering on voters’ electoral uncertainty. Implementing instrumental variables, the study finds consistent evidence of a causal relationship between the use of the internet as a source of political information and increased levels of political uncertainty among voters, ceteris paribus. These findings are robust to a range of model specifications and alternative operationalizations of dependent and independent variables.

Suggested Citation

  • Sudulich, Laura & Wall, Matthew & Baccini, Leonardo, 2015. "Wired Voters: The Effects of Internet Use on Voters’ Electoral Uncertainty," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(4), pages 853-881, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:bjposi:v:45:y:2015:i:04:p:853-881_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Daryna Grechyna, 2024. "Technological Progress and Political Disengagement," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 66(2), pages 261-288, June.
    2. Schaub, Max & Morisi, Davide, 2020. "Voter mobilisation in the echo chamber: Broadband internet and the rise of populism in Europe," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 59(4), pages 752-773.

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