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Photo of Isabelle Johansson.

Isabelle Johansson

Doctoral student

Photo of Isabelle Johansson.

The Partisan Impact on Local Government Dissemination of COVID-19 Information : Assessing U.S. County Government Websites

Author

  • Michael A. Hansen
  • Isabelle Johansson
  • Kalie Sadowski
  • Joseph Blaszcynski
  • Sarah Meyer

Summary, in English

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.

Department/s

  • Social Anthropology

Publishing year

2021

Language

English

Pages

150-162

Publication/Series

Canadian Journal of Political Science

Volume

54

Issue

1

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Topic

  • Health Care Service and Management, Health Policy and Services and Health Economy

Keywords

  • County websites
  • Covid-19
  • Local governments
  • Partisanship

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0008-4239