Computer Use in the Field of Political Science

1 Computer Use in the Field of Political Science Computers are applicable to various sectors and fields to enhance efficiency due to their accuracy, fast processing speed, versatility, and reliability. One of these fields is political science. Computers are used in the political process for voter education, voter registration, conducting and analyzing public opinion polls, in political campaigns, outlining electoral districts, voting, vote counting, and statistical analysis of results.

One of the uses of computers in the political process is voter education. Computers are used in reaching voters and educating them about election-related issues. People can use computerized archives, libraries, and museums to access information about the electoral process and local, national, and global political issues (Lembersky & Tarnow, 2019). Computers can also be used to inform voters about electoral technology and how to use it through simulation exercises and website demonstrations. Furthermore, computers can be used to send information to voters through automated direct mail, computer kiosks, desktop publishing, and the internet.

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2 Automated mail is used to reach voters by storing their names and addresses in databases and using database software or word-processing software to print personalized mail to them. For example, personalized mail can be sent to voters in a particular district to inform them that electoral boundaries have been redrawn. Moreover, computer kiosks can be used to reach voters by placing video display screens in public places for users to access information about the electoral process. Desktop publishing can also be used to reach voters by using specialized computer software to combine text, photographs, numerical data, and charts to generate attractive material such as voter information booklets, training manuals, and newsletters to educate the public on electoral matters (ACE Project, 2021). Lastly, the internet can be used to convey information to voters through electoral websites and social networking sites.

Computers are also used in the voter registration process. Some of the technologies applied in voter registration include database management software to store and manipulate data; imaging technologies for data entry, identification needs, data recognition, and data matching; data storage media; geographic information systems to assign voters to specific geographic locations; and telecommunication technologies for supporting networked computer systems (ACE Project, 2021). Voters are registered by capturing their data electronically and storing it on a computer database system. Voters’ data can be input through online or batch processing.

Online processing is used when powerful computers are available, whereby data is entered into a live database with a shared network that allows for online updates. In batch processing, computers are not powerful and are not joined to a network. Instead, data is entered in sets of many records, stored in a temporary file, and later uploaded to the main data file at a regular interval when the computer system’s demand is low. Electronic voter registers can be used as distributed or centralized systems. In centralized systems, voter data is stored in one centralized

3 database that can be accessed over a network, while for a distributed system, the users are spread over several networks (ACE Project, 2021).

Computers are also used to conduct and analyze public opinion polls. These polls provide important information to politicians and voters. The voters learn about the performance of a particular candidate while the politicians get relevant feedback regarding the effectiveness of their campaign messages in reaching the public (Rossini et al., 2018). Companies such as Gallup Organization perform opinion polls and analyze their results using computers (Lembersky & Tarnow, 2019). Most of their predictions are accurate, and they help politicians take actions such as making changes to their campaigns. Opinion polls also influence voters on the candidates to elect. Opinion polls can be conducted through online surveys and analyzed using computers.

Politicians use computers to reach the public during campaigns. People use computers and phones to access social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Politicians post information about campaign activities and interact with the voters through these sites (Rossini et al., 2018). They also use computer programs to schedule their campaigns and calculate the allocation and distribution of funds (Lembersky & Tarnow, 2019). Politicians also use computers to prepare campaign presentations used to persuade the public to vote for them.

Computers can also be used in the election process to outline voting districts. District boundaries can be drawn using geographical information systems (GIS) software and sophisticated computers (ACE Project, 2021). Redistricting can be performed by gathering the necessary information, including maps and population data. Spatial data such as boundaries of geographic units is related to non-spatial data, including demographic and population data, in an electronic redistributing database. For example, the number of registered voters by race, religion, ethnicity, or language for each unit is useful during redistricting. Computers and GIS software

4 are then used to draw the districts, with the resulting map, political election results, and population counts being displayed on computer screens (ACE Project, 2021). There are different forms of computer applications in the process of redistricting. GIS that helps capture, visualize, manage, and analyze spatial data aims to enhance the efficiency of map creation. Moreover, fully automated redistricting using computers is aimed at eliminating unfairness in the process. Semiautomated redistricting increases transparency in the process. Open access computerized systems increase transparency in the process and facilitate the participation of the members of the public.

Lastly, quantitative indicia aim to identify egregious gerrymanders using statistical or geographical analysis of proposed redistricting plans (Altman & McDonald, 2010).

Gerrymandering in redistricting plans violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the US constitution that require impartiality and equal justice under the law (Chen & Rodden, 2015).

Computer applications are also applied in conducting electronic voting. Examples of modern electronic voting systems are Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) systems and Internet voting systems (Valsamidis et al., 2018). DRE systems consist of keyboards, smart card equipment, touch screens, and near-field communication. Voters vote in voting terminals in specific polling locations that are connected to a central polling station. When people vote, their votes are added to a running tally located at a remote central location. Other DRE systems store votes in a storage system consisting of a memory card and hard disk. Conversely, an internet electronic voting system consists of a computer, mobile phone, or digital television with customer software offered over the internet by a central voting station. People vote through remote internet voting, but such a system can be compromised as it is difficult to verify the identity of the voters (Valsamidis et al., 2018).

5 Computer systems are also used to count votes after an election. This can be done using punch-card systems or optical scanning systems. In the punch card system, divots are extracted from perforated ballot cards, which are then gathered and tallied at a central polling station.

Conversely, in optical scanning systems, voters mark ballots in a manner that can be read by optical counting machines (Valsamidis et al., 2018).

Computers are also used to perform a statistical analysis of election results. Votes are tabulated through computers using spreadsheets, custom-made programs, or database management systems (ACE Project, 2021). Moreover, computer systems such as Votes Analyzer (VOTAN) can be used to perform a statistical analysis of the results after an election and examine the factors that play a pivotal role in the outcome (Valsamidis et al., 2018). The voters’ and candidates’ data is mined to extract useful conclusions and identify the users’ interesting tendencies and their correlations with parameters such as age, time and duration of voting, and gender. The data analysis process occurs in two steps, including the pre-process and the application of linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to the data from the first phase (Valsamidis et al., 2018). The pre-process phase entails calculating several indexes such as the voters’ age, gender, and duration and time of voting from the e-voting data contained in the database. The result of this phase is a matrix consisting of useful information from the system. In the second phase, LDA is applied to the data to develop a model for investigating the usefulness of the evoting variables for forecasting the party that will be elected. The LDA is used to model the link between independent variables such as the age of voters and dependent categorical variables such as the party they voted for (Valsamidis et al., 2018).

Overall, computers are used in the political process for voter education, voter registration, conducting and analyzing public opinion polls, political campaigns, outlining electoral districts,

6 voting, vote counting, and statistical analysis of results. Politicians and voters use them for various purposes to enhance the electoral process. Thus, computers are useful in the political science field and will continue to be used for various purposes.

7 References ACE Project. (2021). Elections and technology. https://aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/et/etd/etd01 Altman, M., & McDonald, M. (2010). The promise and perils of computers in redistricting. Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy, 5, 69-111.

Chen, J., & Rodden, J. (2015). Cutting through the thicket: Redistricting simulations and the detection of partisan gerrymanders. Election Law Journal, 14(4), 331-345.

Lembersky, R. & Tarnow, G. (2019). Political applications. https://www.encyclopedia.com/computing/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/politicalapplications Rossini, P., Hemsley, J., Tanupabrungsun, S., Zhang, F., & Stromer-Galley, J. (2018). Social media, opinion polls, and the use of persuasive messages during the 2016 US election primaries. Social Media+ Society, 1-11.

Valsamidis, S., Kontogiannis, S., Theodosiou, T. G., & Petasakis, I. (2018). A Web e-voting system with a data analysis component. Journal of Systems and Information Technology, 20(2), 1-21.