Replication Data for: The Effect of Human vs. Automated Interaction on Willingness to Participate in Government Programs: The Role of Representation

Increased reliance on automated systems in government raises important questions about the impact of these systems on program participation. We look at the relationship between an automated application process and program participation through a representation lens. From a representative bureaucracy perspective, we examine whether gender representation increases participation intentions compared to interacting with an automated system. We also consider a political dimension of representation, investigating whether interacting with an automated system increases participation intentions among those whose policy preferences do not align with program goals. While we do not see differences based on gender representation in our survey experiment, we do find evidence that an automated system leads to greater willingness to participate among those whose policy preferences do not align with the program. These results provide insight into when automated systems may influence participation, suggesting a potential positive role among those who are not politically favorable towards a program.

政府对自动化系统的依赖程度日益提升，这引发了诸多关于此类系统对项目参与度影响的重要议题。我们从表征视角出发，探讨自动化申请流程与项目参与度之间的关联。基于代表性官僚制（representative bureaucracy）视角，我们对比分析与自动化系统的交互场景，探究性别表征是否会提升参与意愿。此外，我们还纳入表征的政治维度，研究当政策偏好与项目目标不契合的群体与自动化系统交互时，是否会提升其参与意愿。尽管在本次调查实验中，我们未观察到基于性别表征的显著差异，但确实发现证据表明：对于政策偏好与项目目标不契合的群体，自动化系统会提升其参与意愿。本研究结果揭示了自动化系统可能影响参与度的具体情境，表明其对政治上不支持某一项目的群体或存在潜在积极作用。