Local television, citizen knowledge and U.S. senators' roll-call voting

Mattias Nordin

European Journal of Political Economy, 2019, vol. 56, issue C, 212-232

Abstract: I study the effect of access to local television on citizens' political knowledge. I do so by utilizing the mismatch between U.S. television markets and state borders, causing some citizens to receive local television which primarily covers neighboring state politics. I find that access to relevant local television causes citizens to be more informed about their senators' roll-call votes, and more likely to hold opinions about these senators. I also find that citizens with access to relevant local television are more likely to assess their senators based on how well the senators' roll-call votes align with the citizens' policy preferences. These results suggest that passively acquired information through television can help individuals evaluate their elected representatives.

Keywords: Local television; Political information; Natural experiment; Roll-call votes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D80 H50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:poleco:v:56:y:2019:i:c:p:212-232

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2018.08.012

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