Participatory inequality across countries: contacting public officials online and offline
Participatory inequality across countries: contacting public officials online and offline
Author
Boulianne, Shelley
Faculty Advisor
Date
2022
Keywords
contact officials , online political participation , political inequality , cross-national , socioeconomic status , age , gender
Abstract (summary)
The Internet offers low-cost ways to participate in political life, which reduces the motivation
required to participate and thus potentially reduces inequalities in participation. I examine online
and offline contacting of elected officials using original survey data from Canada, France, the
United Kingdom, and the United States collected in 2019 and 2021. Education is a consistent
positive predictor of contacting in all countries as well as both modes of contact (online and
offline). Income differences are small. Younger people are more likely to contact officials, online
and offline, compared to older people. Females are less likely to contact officials, online and offline,
compared to males. While political interest, efficacy, online information consumption, and online
group ties are believed to lead to more equity in online communication, I do not see strong
differences in these variables for online and offline contacting. I conclude by discussing the
implications of exclusively online contacting of officials when this form of contact is devalued by
elected officials, as well as the implications of participatory inequalities with respect to influencing
public policy and access to government services.
Publication Information
Boulianne, S. (2022). Participatory inequality across countries: Contacting public officials online and offline. Social Science Computer Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393211071067
DOI
Notes
Item Type
Article
Language
English
Rights
Attribution (CC BY)
