1. Twitter Adoption in U.S. Legislatures: A Fifty-State Study
James Cook
@JamesCookUMA
University of Maine at Augusta
materials at jamescookuma.com

2. @JamesCookUMA

3. Twitter Adoption Rates:
U.S. Senators: 100%
U.S. Representatives: 96.6%
source: Josh Shpayher,
govsm.com
@JamesCookUMA

4. Look Down: Why State Legislatures?
Gridlock vs. considerable policy activity

5. Look Down: Why State Legislatures?
Gridlock vs. considerable political activity
# people (1 vs 100 vs 435 vs 7,378)

6. Look Down: Why State Legislatures?
Gridlock vs. considerable political activity
# people (1 vs 100 vs 435 vs 7,378)
# organizations (1 vs 1 vs 1 vs 50)
general theory from individual case?
replication
structural variation

8. Association of Twitter Adoption with Independent Variables (U. S
Association of Twitter Adoption with Independent Variables (U.S. Legislative Studies to Date)
Variable
Negative Assoc.
No Association
Positive Assoc.
Status: Woman
US (‘10)
US (‘12), WI (‘13)
Status: Legislative Veteran
US (‘12)
US (‘10, ‘10, ‘10), WI (‘13), NE (‘12)
Status: Republican
WI (‘13)
USS (‘10), US (‘12), TX (‘11), NE (‘12)
US (‘09, ’09, ‘10, ‘10, ‘10)
Status: Leadership
Status: Upper Chamber
US (‘09, ‘12)
@JamesCookUMA

9. Association of Twitter Adoption with Independent Variables (U. S
Association of Twitter Adoption with Independent Variables (U.S. Legislative Studies to Date)
Variable
Negative Assoc.
No Association
Positive Assoc.
District: Younger
US (‘10), USS (‘10)
US (‘10), USH (‘10)
District: Higher Income
USH (‘10)
US (‘10, ‘10)
WI (‘13)
District: Higher Education
US (’10, ‘10), USS (‘10), WI (‘13)
State: % w/ Internet Access --
State: Population per Legislator
State: Legislature Professionalism
State: Instability (Party Switch/Split)
@JamesCookUMA

10. Current Research Dependent Variables Analyses
50 State Legislatures
7,378 Legislators
Dependent Variables
Twitter Account? (65.1%)
Active on Twitter ‘14-’15? (55.7%)
Analyses
50 Separate Bivariate Analyses for Individual States
1 Pooled Multivariate Analysis of All States
@JamesCookUMA

11. studied just one state legislature?
Analysis 1:
What would we find if we
studied just one state legislature?
@JamesCookUMA

12. @JamesCookUMA

13. { { { Consistently positive, Inconsistent statistical significance
Inconsistent direction,
Inconsistent statistical
significance {
Consistently negative,
Inconsistent statistical
significance
@JamesCookUMA

14. What patterns emerge if we pool data,
Analysis 2:
What patterns emerge if we pool data,
enabling the use of multivariate analysis
and state-level structural variables?
@JamesCookUMA

15. Logistic Regression Models (DV=Adoption)
Logistic Regression Models (DV=Activity)
Independent Variable
Model 1
Model 2
Republican
0.125
0.139
Majority Party
-0.076
-0.079
Woman
0.329***
0.386***
Upper Chamber
0.333**
0.340***
Legislative Leader
0.444***
0.383**
Legislative Veteran
-0.089
-0.169*
District % BA+
0.022***
0.025***
Median Income ($thousands)
0.007
0.003
Median Age
-0.049**
-0.039***
% Households with Internet Access in State
-0.022
Party Switch/Split 10-15
0.062
Population/Legislator in State (thousands)
0.016***
State Squire Index
1.834*
Intercept
1.710**
1.960 N
7277
Pseudo-R2
0.063
0.166
Independent Variable
Model 1
Model 2
Republican
0.002
0.045
Majority Party
-0.121
-0.133
Woman
0.228***
0.273***
Upper Chamber
0.331**
0.341***
Legislative Leader
0.437***
0.386***
Legislative Veteran
-0.332**
-0.421***
District % BA+
0.017***
0.020***
Median Income ($thousands)
0.014
0.013
Median Age
-0.047**
-0.039***
% Households with Internet Access in State
-0.016
Party Switch/Split 10-15
0.059
Population/Legislator in State (thousands)
0.013***
State Squire Index
2.113**
Intercept
1.309*
1.317 N
7277
Pseudo-R2
0.066
0.165
* p<.05, ** p<.01, ***p<.001

16. So What?

17. Future Work Structural Interactions with Main Effects Network Analysis
Other Clearly Bounded, Exhaustive and Mutually-Exclusive Groups
System Size
Group Size
Your ideas???
Homophily
Tie Strength
Registered Lobbyists
Chambers of Commerce
Trade Associations
Faculties*
Boards of Directors
* See Philippe Mongeon et al, Session 1C