Internet Use in the State Legislature

Abstract

Using a survey of state legislators in Iowa, Georgia, and California, this article examines how often legislators use the Internet as a source for policy information, and which legislators tend to make more frequent use of the Internet to gather information. The author finds that there is tremendous variation as to how often state legislators use the Internet to gather policy information. The author did not find evidence of a digital divide as it pertains to urbanism, or gender. It appears that a digital divide remains, however, between young and old legislators—with younger legislators using the Internet more often— and legislators in California versus legislators in Georgia and Iowa. In the end, it appears that the digital divide in the state legislature is shrinking. As the older generation of legislators retires, the author expects that the Internet will become a more institutionalized part of the information environment of state legislators.