Are elected legislators responsive to citizen policy demands expressed in social media? A comparative analysis of Latin American democracies

This research seeks to assess whether elected legislators take an interest in voter demands expressed on social media, and to measure the extent in which they respond. Given that the literature has shown the importance of social media in political participation, it is unexpected that findings on the
influence of citizens' social media use on policymaking are less conclusive. To gauge the role of social media in legislators' policymaking, the project will use a cross-national comparative analysis of Brazil, Chile and Mexico, using quantitative and qualitative methods to identify factors that foster this relationship. The ubiquity of political social media use in citizens and legislators in these countries provides the project with ample evidence for measuring the effects of social media at different stages of policymaking.