Medicare and Medicaid Services Online

Government initiatives in the United States have been passed in an effort to increase citizen usage of e-government programs. One such service is the availability of online health insurance information. However, not all demographic groups have been equally able to access these services, primarily the poor and rural American. As more legislation is passed, including the advancement of broadband services to remote areas, infrastructure barriers are being removed, opening access to Medicare and Medicaid websites for these vulnerable groups. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze factors predicting the impact of recent government actions on citizen access to health insurance information online. This topic is explored using multivariate regression analysis and individual level data from the Internet and American Life Project. The findings suggest that healthcare needs and quality of Internet access may be playing a more important role in health insurance information services than other factors

Scandal politics and political scandals in the era of digital interactive media

This study focuses on scandal politics and political scandals in the era of digital interactive media. Scandals are the part of symbolic power struggles. Media is one of the main actors of these struggles. In fact, political scandals have a constructive function in democracies because they help releasing corruptions. After scandals, the public get the opportunity to discuss on the legitimacy of political-legal institutions and political system. However, this discussion is not possible in the conditions of scandal politics. This study is interested in scandal politics and political scandals in the era of digital interactive media. It evaluates the maintaining role of traditional media in the era of digital media, and the potentials of digital interactive media to utilize the constructive functions of political scandals in democracies. The cases of WikiLeaks and Ashley Madison affair are used to evaluate the scandal politics and political scandals in the era of digital interactive media. © 2017, IGI Global

Is the Mobile Phone a Disruptive Technology? A Partial Review of Evidence from Developing Countries

The authors of this chapter provide an inter-disciplinary review of studies on economic impacts of mobile telephony in developing countries, giving particular attention to the disruptive potential of the technology and its associated social practices. Four major areas of impact are identified: the emergence of a mobile phone economy around retail and service provision, including mobile banking; a significant reduction in search costs with profound impacts on market efficiency and, possibly, welfare distribution; changes in the formation and maintenance of trusting relationships between market actors as face-to-face contact is replaced with remote communication; and facilitated organisation and cooperation within and among firms, as well as changing credit procurement practices. While the mobile phone has been hailed for its transformative power, the authors tentatively conclude that its impact in most areas is not primarily disrupting, but rather amplifying existing structures