The Partisan Impact on Local Government Dissemination of COVID-19 Information : Assessing U.S. County Government Websites
(2021) In Canadian Journal of Political Science 54(1). p.150-162- Abstract
This study explores the relationship between local government dissemination of COVID-19 information and partisanship. The unit of analysis is all official county government websites in the United States. In particular, we investigate if there is a correlation between the overall partisanship of a county and whether a county government's website 1) mentions COVID-19, and 2) provides safety instructions concerning COVID-19. We hypothesize that mass partisanship will impact the probability that a county government's website provides information related to the coronavirus. We find that a larger share of Democratic voters in a county is associated with an increase in the probability that a county government's website mentions COVID-19 and... (More)
This study explores the relationship between local government dissemination of COVID-19 information and partisanship. The unit of analysis is all official county government websites in the United States. In particular, we investigate if there is a correlation between the overall partisanship of a county and whether a county government's website 1) mentions COVID-19, and 2) provides safety instructions concerning COVID-19. We hypothesize that mass partisanship will impact the probability that a county government's website provides information related to the coronavirus. We find that a larger share of Democratic voters in a county is associated with an increase in the probability that a county government's website mentions COVID-19 and provides safety instructions for their residents. The results hold even after controlling for population density, internet subscriptions, and COVID-19 cases and deaths. The finding indicates that citizens' access to information, even on matters of public health, are partially a consequence of partisanship.
(Less)
- author
- Hansen, Michael A. LU ; Johansson, Isabelle LU ; Sadowski, Kalie ; Blaszcynski, Joseph and Meyer, Sarah
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- County websites, Covid-19, Local governments, Partisanship
- in
- Canadian Journal of Political Science
- volume
- 54
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 150 - 162
- publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85094908847
- ISSN
- 0008-4239
- DOI
- 10.1017/S0008423920000918
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 5ed631e5-33ed-4f53-b535-419ec3ee8c62
- date added to LUP
- 2020-11-23 07:48:14
- date last changed
- 2022-04-26 21:59:54
@article{5ed631e5-33ed-4f53-b535-419ec3ee8c62, abstract = {{<p>This study explores the relationship between local government dissemination of COVID-19 information and partisanship. The unit of analysis is all official county government websites in the United States. In particular, we investigate if there is a correlation between the overall partisanship of a county and whether a county government's website 1) mentions COVID-19, and 2) provides safety instructions concerning COVID-19. We hypothesize that mass partisanship will impact the probability that a county government's website provides information related to the coronavirus. We find that a larger share of Democratic voters in a county is associated with an increase in the probability that a county government's website mentions COVID-19 and provides safety instructions for their residents. The results hold even after controlling for population density, internet subscriptions, and COVID-19 cases and deaths. The finding indicates that citizens' access to information, even on matters of public health, are partially a consequence of partisanship.</p>}}, author = {{Hansen, Michael A. and Johansson, Isabelle and Sadowski, Kalie and Blaszcynski, Joseph and Meyer, Sarah}}, issn = {{0008-4239}}, keywords = {{County websites; Covid-19; Local governments; Partisanship}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{1}}, pages = {{150--162}}, publisher = {{Cambridge University Press}}, series = {{Canadian Journal of Political Science}}, title = {{The Partisan Impact on Local Government Dissemination of COVID-19 Information : Assessing U.S. County Government Websites}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0008423920000918}}, doi = {{10.1017/S0008423920000918}}, volume = {{54}}, year = {{2021}}, }