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Going beyond theory and guess based forecasts; this book systematically explores and measures the implications of the growing use of the internet in the American political landscape. Using current election data, the authors specifically challenge the predominant conjecture that the impact of new technology will not affect the electoral outcomes and illustrate that the use of the internet is causing a marked shift in not just who votes, but who wins

AbstractBackgroundCable news makes it possible for consumers to avoid information that challenges their predispositions, and the Internet makes it even easier. Cable news consumption is related to attitude extremity, but the extant literature is absent empirical examination of how the two may work together.ObjectivesThis study aims to contribute to our understanding of the relationship between media consumption and policy attitude extremity. In particular,, it asks how digital media consumption may combine with cable or traditional mass media to drive higher levels of polarization and attitude extremity.MethodsWe use American National Election Studies and data reduction methods to model and measure the gathering of political information to compare the relationship between different forms of media consumption and policy attitude extremity.ResultsOur results indicate that, independently, the consumption of both "partisan" cable news and "non‐partisan" political digital information have the same positive relationship to attitude extremity across four major issue domains (economy, federal spending, social issues, and foreign affairs) and that when combined into a single index, the relationship is stronger than their independent relationships. Finally, the results suggest that the combined effect is strongest among those who consume more liberal cable news.ConclusionOur high choice media environment contributes to the polarized climate in the United States today.