Journal of Undergraduate Research
Keywords
legislator responsiveness, internet proficiency, campaign
College
Family, Home, and Social Sciences
Department
Political Science
Abstract
Elected officials should try to establish a relationship with their constituents and keep them well informed by responding to any questions they may have regarding political issues. One way legislators can do this is by responding to emails. Some legislators choose to respond to emails themselves, while others choose to hire people who respond to the emails sent to their campaign email address. Age may be one of the factors that affect the likelihood of whether a legislator chooses to respond to questions from his/her constituents. The purpose of my research is to determine whether a legislator’s age affects her responsiveness. Are older legislators less likely than younger legislators to think that online activity is important? Does knowledge about the internet play a role in the effect age has on legislator responsiveness? To answer these question, I measured the response rate of different state legislators by emailing them with an internet related question.
Recommended Citation
Stephenson, Sean and Barber, Michael
(2016)
"Legislator Responsiveness, Age, and Internet Proficiency,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2016:
Iss.
1, Article 59.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2016/iss1/59