The Impact of High Information Environments on Representation in the U.S. House of Representatives

Abstract

In a series of three articles I demonstrate that a plausible explanation for political "nationalization" is an increasingly dense information environment. Nationalization occurs when all political decisions -- for both voters and legislators -- are made on one plane of partisan conflict. Leveraging the geographic roll-out of broadband in the first decade of the 21st century, I show how technologies like the internet alter our politics through their effects on our information environment. In Chapter 1, I show that expanding broadband increased the impact of national forces in House elections: voters cast less split tickets, return incumbents to office with a smaller advantage, and are less likely to punish legislators for excessively partisan roll-call voting. In Chapter 2, I turn my focus to legislators, showing that increasing broadband in their districts causes them to vote more in line with national forces: their parties, the President, and ideologically aligned interest groups. Finally, in Chapter 3, I focus in on local newspapers. I show that newspapers exposed to broadband systematically alter their content, writing more articles about the President relative to local members of Congress.