Technological Progress and Political Disengagement

This paper analyzes the impact of technological progress on individual political engagement using longitudinal data from the British survey. The analysis suggests that regional technological progress, measured as the gross value added per worker, the number of patents per capita, and the share of employed in R&D, reduces individual identification with a particular political party, individual interest in politics, and participation in elections. The individual assertion that vote is a social norm, the self-assessed cost of political participation, and the awareness of voter irrelevance are not found to be mediating the impact of technological progress on political disengagement.