In the Eye of the Beholder: Using Eye Tracking to Understand the Causal Influence of Governance Institutions on Attention

What role does political governance institution (i.e. the local, national, and European governance level) play for political attention? Using eye tracking in a laboratory experiment (N = 63), we pioneer a study into exploring the role of governance institution on attention to political news, holding political content constant. We find that fixation time significantly increases when reading about the EU compared to the national and local governance institutions. The political topic (here immigration and climate) only has a significant impact as an interaction effect with the national and local levels. Sex and attitudes to EU integration play no significant role. We discuss these findings, including the prospects andlimitations using eye tracking in political science research.