Place matters for the poor: Digitisation and spatial inequality in Chile

This paper examines the extent to which digitalisation can foster political inclusion in the context of a centralised political system with spatial inequalities. It investigates the factors associated with the digitalisation of 343 municipal governments and how both territorial and individual-level characteristics relate to attitudinal and behavioural digital civic engagement, using data from 9924 face-to-face surveys in the Chilean region of Valparaíso. At the municipal level, the results show that territorial inequalities continue to determine access to digital services since larger and wealthier localities tend to provide more digital services. At the individual level, living in a digitised municipality is positively associated with the likelihood of using digital services. Additionally, wealthier individuals are more likely to feel empowered or engage digitally. However, engagement is greater in poorer areas, suggesting that digitisation may be particularly valuable where traditional political inclusion is limited. Important is that place and person characteristics interact: disadvantaged individuals are more engaged digitally when they live in poorer areas than when they live in wealthier areas, place makes little difference for the well-off.