It’s wild that so many smart ppl have no political analysis. This is the analogue of declines in trust in journalism and medical professionals - they are the result of sustained political attacks.
Elite higher ed has many problems, but the key factor driving down trust is political. Look at the graph - backlash against costs, admissions, etc. can't explain the changes we see. We should still reform our institutions and refocus on our core mission, but blindly blaming ourselves is abuser logic
🚨NEW DISINFO PAPER🚨 TLDR; disinformation circulates as narratives, not false facts. This paper took five years (!!!) and a rotating cast of collaborators and GRAs. Our case studies include the pee tape, and we have an entire appendix justifying that. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Time series plot of Liberal Democracy Index, Electoral Democracy Index, and Electoral Component Index. These 3 indices reflect thick, medium, and thin definitions of democracy, respectively LDI: The liberal principle of democracy emphasizes the importance of protecting individual and minority rights against the tyranny of the state and the tyranny of the majority. The liberal model takes a ~negative~ view of political power insofar as it judges the quality of democracy by the limits placed on government. This is achieved by constitutionally protected civil liberties, strong rule of law, an independent judiciary, and effective checks and balances that, together, limit the exercise of executive power. To make this a measure of liberal democracy, the index also takes the level of electoral democracy into account. EDI: The electoral principle of democracy seeks to embody the core value of making rulers responsive to citizens, achieved through electoral competition for the electorate's approval under circumstances when suffrage is extensive; political and civil society organizations can operate freely; elections are clean and not marred by fraud or systematic irregularities; and elections affect the composition of the chief executive of the country. In between elections, there is freedom of expression and an independent media capable of presenting alternative views on matters of political relevance. ECI: The electoral principle of democracy seeks to achieve responsiveness and accountability between leaders and citizens through the mechanism of competitive elections. This is presumed to be achieved when suffrage is extensive; political and civil society organizations can operate freely; elections are clean and not marred by fraud or systematic irregularities; and the chief executive of a country is selected directly or indirectly through elections.
New V-Dem data release dropped yesterday. For the first time, V-Dem identifies Trump-era United States as an autocratization episode. Here are 3 of V-Dem's indices for the full scope of U.S. constitutional history. Description of these indices in alt text.
New 📄 out in @icsjournal.bsky.social
"Safety work repertoires and dating platforms: how users of Tinder and Bumble manage their safety"
Link: doi.org/10.1080/1369...
Thread for more details 🔽
This is such an excellent book and a veritable who's-who of #PolComm scholarship, full of prescient observations on the role of journalism, data, race / social identities, and new forms of networked mobilization in the current state of US crisis...
Put it on your syllabi/reading lists!
As our government seeks to erase the truth of five years ago, I am deeply grateful for all those researchers whose words shine with such clarity in our Media and January 6th @oxfordunipress.bsky.social book: global.oup.com/academic/pro...
🚨NEW PAPER
The Logic of Connective Faction:
How Digitally Networked Elites and Hyper-Partisan Media Radicalize Politics
w/ @yunkangyang.bsky.social & @mikecowburn.bsky.social
Online radicalization doesn't just affect the public.
It also reshapes how elites & parties behave. doi.org/10.1080/1058...
Abstract: Recent political communication scholarship finds that groups and identities play a central role in the crises faced by political and media systems globally, particularly in democracies. Yet an individualist orientation in the literature has resulted in key theoretical and conceptual limitations, preventing a broader group-centric theoretical framework from emerging. We synthesize disparate bodies of theory on groups, politics, and communication to offer three basic propositions underlying a group theory of political communication. First, it is the group—not the individual—that is the fundamental organizing unit of social and political life. Second, groups are constituted through communication, which is central to how they define their politics. Third, groups and politics are reciprocally influencing forces through political communication, oriented around power. We offer a framework for studying the role of groups in political communication at the micro, meso, and macro levels, providing a concrete agenda for the study of groups in political communication.
🚨New pub alert!🚨 Now available open-access in @journal-of-comm.bsky.social, we (w/ @dkreiss.bsky.social, @danlane.bsky.social, & @shannimcg.bsky.social) critique political communication's "Identity Turn" and offer instead a foundation for studying #polcomm from a *group* perspective. 🧵
That’s the second empirical study I’ve seen this week that does an excellent job w/ right-wing radicalizing discourse. The other is this study on anti-immigration in France which is fantastic (and I’m not only saying that b/c they cited my and @dkreiss.bsky.social’s work on “defensive publics”)
My piece has been published in PNAS today!!! "The importance of local racial demographic changes in democratic erosion in the mass American public" www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....
A few takeaways...
I wrote a piece about the tsunami of health #disinformation being supercharged by the #MAHA takeover of HHS, and interviewed @dkreiss.bsky.social for his perspective on information warfare #publichealth #medsky www.orangedems.com/disinformati... and www.orangedems.com/interview-da...
UNC Chapel Hill has reinstated Prof. Dwayne Dixon.
Rather than conduct a threat assessment of a faculty member based on spurious accusations, UNC should conduct an assessment of its own administration's threat to First Amendment rights and academic freedom. @aaup.org
www.wral.com/news/local/u...
Literally the authoritarian playbook:
1. Call your opponents terrorists.
2. Deploy state power against them.
There's nothing subtle or confusing or complex about what's happening. The *outcome* is uncertain but the authoritarianism is right out in the open.
Peddling polarization is very lucrative for universities.
What a great way to start the week! My new article is now published in @polcommjournal.bsky.social! 🎉
This study holds a special place for me, capturing the core of my dissertation.
I am so excited to finally share this work. Check out the article here:
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/55HRJ...
We have a 🚨 new open access paper 🚨 with @polcommjournal.bsky.social We show how platforms can simultaneously concentrate and fragment political power. We analysed Italy's Five Star Movement across 5 platforms to understand multi-platform dynamics in political organisations. doi.org/10.1080/1058...
What a wonderful institution and honor to present in front of so many amazing scholars.
Hooray! The 31st Issue of the #PolComm Report is out!
What a fantastic lineup @igoncalves.com was able to assemble for the topic of "Teaching PolComm" 🤩
Khadijah Costley White, @kcoe.bsky.social & Diana Zulli, Regina Cazzamatta, Matthew Powers, & @sangjung-kim.bsky.social (& her students).
New article from John C. Stanko in Political Communication bridging IR and CP explores how populist autocrats use international status recognition to improve legitimacy at home.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
If you work in higher-ed, please read this interview with @dkreiss.bsky.social.
I believe the types of public signals to the sector he points to here have direct ramifications beyond the US.
In short, the agreement gives legal form to an extortion scheme _the first of its kind!-that defies the relevant statutes as well as the constitutional separation of powers and the First Amendment.
Fantastic and timely intervention by the indispensable Dave Pozen on the true meaning of the Columbia shakedown for higher ed: replacing the rule of law with regulation by deal, which ultimately undermines both regulation and education.
balkin.blogspot.com/2025/07/regu...
This means a lot, thanks.
Big thanks to always smart & thoughtful friend & colleague @dkreiss.bsky.social for so clearly articulating how Trump’s attacks on Higher Ed harm this country.
Read the full interview.
www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...
✨NEW OA CHAPTER ALERT✨
“In-Groups and Outrage: How Narratives and Affect Shape Digital Surrogate
Networks and Radicalize Right-Wing Parties”
@ulrikeklinger.bsky.social and I explore the case of the German party “Alternative für Deutschland” (#AfD), which has moved increasingly to the far right.
🧵⤵
ONLINE FIRST! This article by Allie Kosterich, @adamsaffer.bsky.social, Matthew S. Weber, and @dkreiss.bsky.social introduces “network histories” as a method to analyze how prior relationships influence digital journalism’s people, teams, and organizations.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
CCCR logo, 100 Days Under Trump: Public Reactions to Attacks on American Governance & Institutions
🚨 CCCR has a new survey report out today! 🚨
"100 Days Under Trump: Public Reactions to Attacks on American Governance & Institutions"
The report draws on our Apr/May YouGov panel survey of US adults, following our Oct 2024 survey w/ recontacts + a sample refresh. 1/
cccr.wisc.edu/wp-content/u...
