Refereed journal article or data article (A1)
The Partisan Impact on Local Government Dissemination of COVID-19 Information: Assessing US County Government Websites
List of Authors: Michael A. Hansen, Isabelle Johansson, Kalie Sadowski, Joseph Blaszcynski, Sarah Meyer
Publication year: 2021
Journal: Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue canadienne de science politique
Journal acronym: CJPS
Volume number: 54
Issue number: 1
Start page: 150
End page: 162
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423920000918
URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/canadian-journal-of-political-science-revue-canadienne-de-science-politique/article/partisan-impact-on-local-government-dissemination-of-covid19-information-assessing-us-county-government-websites/60831D33E2DDB20A987A8E1CED1D5E29
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 its 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.
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