Anmerkungen:
Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments February 10, 2020 erstellt
Beschreibung:
I exploit variation over time and space in the arrival of 3G Internet in South Africa to estimate its impact on political participation, electoral competition, voters’ preferences and protests. Combining granular coverage data with administrative records on municipal elections, I show that in 2016 Internet availability caused a 6 percentage point reduction in the vote share of the ruling party. The main opponents gained from Internet arrival. Voter turnout, the number of parties running for election and the number of protests increased. I conclude providing corroborating evidence that both information and coordination mechanisms could explain the observed results