Comparative National Elections Project mini-conference at Mershon Center

DEMOCRACY, ELECTIONS, AND THE CHANGING DYNAMICS OF PARTISAN COMPETITION ON FIVE CONTINENTS
"Findings and Implications from the Comparative National Elections Project (CNEP III) "
Friday, October 18, 2013, 9:45AM - 3:30PM
Mershon Center for International Security Studies
1501 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH 43201 

For more information, or to register, visit: http://mershoncenter.osu.edu/eventcalendar/icalrepeat.detail/2013/10/18/148/-/comparative-national-elections-project-key-findings-and-future-directions.html

Overview
This workshop will present and discuss the findings of the Comparative National Elections Project.  This is the Mershon Center’s longest-running research project, and it has become one of the largest survey-based research projects in the world, now including over 40 countries on five continents.

The editors of our forthcoming volume—Richard Gunther, Paul Beck (both of the Mershon Center), Pedro Magalhães (University of Lisbon), and Alejandro Moreno (ITAM, Mexico)—will summarize and lead discussions of the wide-ranging empirical findings and their implications (both for social science theory-building and for the real world of democratic politics) that will be presented in this forthcoming volume or were published in our previous volume.  These include cross-national variations in the processes through which citizens receive information about politics and elections; the surprising variations in the ways citizens understand “democracy;” support for and satisfaction with the performance of democracy; the extent to which sociopolitical values have emerged as social and political cleavages in contemporary societies; and the determinants of electoral behavior in contexts as diverse as the United States and Mozambique.

Exciting 2012 Election Conference at OSU

Conference

The Confirming U.S. Presidential Election of 2012

Friday, October 11 – Saturday, October 12, 2013
Mershon Center for International Security Studies

1501 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH 43201

Register for the event here

Organizer

Herbert Weisberg, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, The Ohio State University

Overview

This conference will examine the 2012 presidential campaign and election, analyzing factors that affected voting, including the impact of domestic, foreign, and military policy debates.  

The 2012 U.S. presidential election took place against the backdrop of continuing domestic recession along with persistent issues regarding tax rates and deficit reduction. The country was winding down its commitments in wars abroad while still being faced with military threats around the world. Immigration was an important issue for Hispanic voters, as well as for many Americans who opposed amnesty toward illegal immigrants. As in recent elections, social issues including abortion and marriage equality found their way into the campaign. While not debated explicitly, race is always a factor in U.S. elections.

The 2012 election confirmed Obama's 2008 voter coalition of African-Americans, Hispanics, women, gays, and young people, with each of these groups continuing to vote Democratic and with higher than their normal turnout levels. Thus, the 2012 election could be seen as confirming a pro-Democratic realignment of the electorate that had emerged in the 2008 election, which could have long-term implications. 

Program

Friday, October 11

9 - 9:30 a.m. Welcome

9:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.  Group Dynamics in the 2012 Election

“How Mormonism Affected Mitt; How Mitt Has Affected Mormonism: Mitt Romney’s Religion and the 2012 Vote” - David Campbell (Notre Dame)

“Racial Group Identity and the 2012 Election”  - Vincent Hutchings and Hakeem Jefferson (Univ. of Michigan)

“Earning and Learning the Latino Vote 2008 to 2012: How the Obama Campaign Tried, Refined, Learned, and Made Big Steps in Cross-Racial Mobilization to Latinos” - Matt Barreto (Univ. of Washington) and Loren Collingwood (UC Riverside)

1 - 3 p.m. Racial Attitudes in the Obama Years

"Racial Attitude Effects on Presidential Voting by Whites, 2008 and 2012" - Herb Weisberg (Ohio State) 

“The Changing Impact of Anti-Black Attitudes on Approval of Barack Obama’s Job Performance and on Voting from 2008 to 2012” - Josh Pasek (Univ. of Michigan); coauthors: Tobias Stark (Stanford/Utrecht), Jon Krosnick (Stanford) & Trevor Tompson (NORC)

“Barack Obama, Racial Attitudes, and the 2012 Election”  - Michael Tesler (Brown University)

3:35 - 5:15 p.m. Implications of the 2012 Election

“Ideology and Polarization in the 2012 Presidential Election” - William Jacoby (Michigan State)

"Racial Attitude Effects on Presidential Voting by Whites, 2008 and 2012" - Herb Weisberg (Ohio State) 

“Barack Obama and the Nationalization of Electoral Politics in 2012” -  Gary Jacobson (University of California, San Diego)

Saturday, October 12

9 - 12:15 p.m. Campaign Factors and Issues

“Political Rumors and the 2012 Election” Adam Berinsky (MIT)

“Obama’s War? Casualties in Afghanistan and the President’s Bid for Reelection” - Christopher Gelpi and Kristine Kay (Ohio State)

“Between Barack and a Hard Place: Valence Voting in the 2012 Presidential Election” - Harold Clarke (Texas - Dallas); coauthors: Paul Whiteley (Essex), Thomas Scotto (Essex), Marianne Stewart (Texas – Dallas), & David Sanders (Essex)

“The Gamble: Choice and Chance in the 2012 Pres. Election, Chap. 7, "The Winning Hand” - Lynn Vavreck (UCLA); coauthor: John Sides (George Washington Univ.)

Participants

Herb Asher, The Ohio State University

Matt Barreto, University of Washington

Paul Beck, The Ohio State University

Adam Berinsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Janet Box-Steffensmeier, The Ohio State University

David Campbell, University of Notre Dame

Harold Clarke, University of Texas – Dallas

Loren Collingwood, University of California - Riverside

Christopher Gelpi, The Ohio State University

Vincent Hutchings, University of Michigan

Gary Jacobson, University of California - San Diego

William Jacoby, Michigan State University

Corrine McConnaughy, The Ohio State University

John Mueller, The Ohio State University

Josh Pasek, University of Michigan

Nathaniel Swigger, The Ohio State University

Michael Tesler, Brown University

Lynn Vavreck, University of California at Los Angeles

Herb Weisberg, The Ohio State University

Ismail White, The Ohio State University

Events in October

There are many events happening around campus in the month of October that may be of interest to COPS members.  We will be posting these events on the website calendar as announcements come in.  Be sure to check out the event website before showing up: some require that you RSVP ahead of time.

Talk sponsored by OSU Center for Ethics and Human Values

COPS members may be interest in this talk, sponsored by the OSU Center for Ethics and Human Values.

"Transparency, Corruption, and Democratic Institutions"Presented by the OSU Center for Ethics and Human Values as part of the COMPAS Conversations on Morality, Politics, and Society. 

Professor Graham Hubbs, University of Idaho Friday, 
September 13, 2013
347 University Hall 3:30 pm 

ABSTRACT: Proponents and critics alike have denied that Wikileaks’s releases of state secrets count as the work of a democratic press. A central goal of this paper is to produce an account of the press that is adequate for analyzing this view of Wikileaks’s activities. My account does not focus on the typical subject matter of discussions of free speech, such as its value, potential harms, and limits. Instead, I focus on the institutional role of the press in a well-functioning democracy. I give an account of institutions in general, and I develop this account in the context of Joshua Cohen’s recent work on democratic institutions. Cohen discusses this in the final chapter of his book Rousseau: A Free Community of Equals—I follow him in articulating my topic in Rousseauean terms. With this framework in place, I turn my discussion to the role of transparency in deterring institutional corruption. The basic thought here is perhaps unsurprising: to ensure that an institution is serving its public function and not being manipulated for self-interested gain, its activities must be subject to public scrutiny, and so these activities must be transparent to the public. While this transparency is important to any democracy, it is especially important to deliberative democracy, for, as Rousseau notes, a people cannot deliberate well if it is not properly informed. Saying this makes the role of transparency in a well-functioning democracy clear, but it does not settle how transparency is to be realized. This paper argues that transparency can be realized in a democracy only by an extra-governmental institution that has several of the familiar features of what we commonly call “the press.” It further argues that in its design and in many, though not all, of its activities, Wikileaks provides a contemporary example of such an institution. A full analysis of Wikileaks is beyond the scope of this paper, but the brief discussion that is provided highlights some of the challenges, both practical and theoretical, with institutionalizing transparency to minimize corruption in democracy.

MPSA

The 72nd Annual MPSA Political Science conference will take place from April 3-6, 2014 in Chicago at the Historic Palmer House Hotel. This is one of the largest conference in the discipline, with almost 6,000 presenters from 55 countries. We have added several new sections and presentation formats for the 2014 conference, including the Empire Lecture Series, Sessions on Professional Development, and a section for review and "state of the subfield" articles. You do not need to be a member to submit a proposal. The deadline for panel submissions is September 30, and the deadline for paper proposals is October 4. For more information: http://bit.ly/18PRbtX

COPS at work

In a COPS session two years ago, Morgan Ellithorpe presented a project that she was working on with Lance Holbert and Angela Palmer-Wackerly.  An article based on that work has now been accepted for publication in Communication Studies in the fall.  Congratulations to all the authors!

Ellithorpe, M. E., Holbert, R. L., & Palmer-Wackerly, A. L. (2013). Procrastination and the shifting political media environment: An experimental study of media choice affecting a democratic outcome.Communication Studies, 64(5).

And for those of you still on the fence about presenting: this is just the most recent example of how COPS can help.  You can see more examples here.

Two new Journal of Communication papers

COPS is VERY well represented in the most recent issue of Journal of Communication (August 2013). The lead article, "Undermining the corrective effects of media-based political fact checking? The role of contextual cues and naive theory" is by Kelly Garrett, Erik Nisbet, and Emily Lynch (a doctoral student in OSU Political Science). Erik Nisbet, recent OSU Ph.D. Teresa Myers, OSU doctoral student Morgan Ellithorpe, and Sol Hart (from the unnamed university to the north) have another article, "Attitude change in competitive framing environments? Open-/closed-mindedness, framing effects, and climate change." Congrats -- way to fly the COPS flag!

Southern Political Science Association -- Media and Politics division

The Southern Political Science Association is now accepting applications for their 85th Annual Conference. Members of COPS may be particularly interested in submitting to the Media and Politics section (headed this year by Chip Eveland). The Conference will be January 9-14, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans, Louisiana. Please see below for a list of important links for the 2014 Conference. We look forward to seeing you in New Orleans!

2014 Call for Proposals: http://spsa.net/images/2014CallForProposals.pdf

All Academic, SPSA's Conference Management Site: http://convention2.allacademic.com/one/spsa/spsa14/

The Hyatt Regency, New Orleans: http://neworleans.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html

Conference Overview (Important dates, updates, etc.): http://www.spsa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=83&Itemid=147"

OSU puts out news release about new COPS study in the Journal of Communication about Climate Change

The OSU Research Communications office put out a news release yesterday about a new study by current and former COPS members Erik Nisbet, Teresa Myers, and Morgan Ellithorpe (Sol Hart from University of Michigan is also a co-author). The study focuses upon competitive framing message environments, open-/closed-mindedness, and support for government intervention on climate change mitigation. The study is in press at Journal of Communication and is fully available online. The full release is available from the Research Communication website.

The citation and abstract appears below:

Nisbet, E.C., Hart, P.S., Myers, T., & Ellithorpe, M. (in press). Attitude change in competitive framing environments? Open/close-mindedness and framing effects about climate change. Journal of Communication.

Abstract: Framing scholarship on policy issues has primarily focused on how competitive message environments alter framing effects or how individual differences moderate the impact of frames. This study combines both of these focal areas by examining how individual open-/closed-mindedness moderates framing effects about climate change within competitive and noncompetitive framing contexts. Contrary to previous scholarship, our experimental study finds effects on attitudes in the competitive framing condition, but not the noncompetitive framing condition. The framing effects found in the competitive condition were contingent upon individual differences in open-/closed-mindedness. Analysis shows that individual open-/closed-mindedness influences framing effects in part by altering the effects of frame exposure on the perceived costs and benefits of government climate policies.

Reminder: Deadline for abstract submissions to the Midwest Association Public Opinion Researchers Annual Conference in Chicago is June 30th

MAPOR is a great conference for graduate students, as it has a very high acceptance rate for student papers and provides good feedback for aspiring scholars. Many OSU graduate student papers presented at AAPOR have found their way into print. Below is an announcement on how to submit a paper proposal (300 words or less) by June 30th. In addition, students can enter their full papers into a competition in September for a prestigious best paper prize given out by the association each year.

 

MAPOR 2013

Submission deadline: June 30

Don't forget to submit your abstract for the 2013 MAPOR conference to be held in Chicago, November 22-23, 2013! The call for papers, description of the student paper competition, and the new online abstract submission website are accessible at www.mapor.org.

 

We are excited to announce that our keynote speaker for the conference will be Lee Rainie from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.   Additionally, Michael Siciliano (University of Illinois at Chicago) we will be teaching a short course: 'An Introduction to the Measurement and Analysis of Networks'.  Be on the lookout for more information about the conference this summer.

 

Abstracts for papers, posters, or panels are due by midnight on June 30 and can be submitted at http://www.mapor.org/AbstractSubmission.html.

OSU COPS members at ICA

In London for ICA later this month?  Don't miss these presentations by COPS members (bolded names):

Ellithorpe, M. E., Esralew, S., & Holbert, R. L. (2013). Putting the "self" in self-deprecation: When deprecating humor about minorities is acceptable. Paper accepted to the International Communication Association conference in London, UK.

Garrett, R. K., Johnson, B., Neo, R., & Dal, A.. (2013). Implications of pro- and counter-attitudinal information exposure for affective polarization. Paper accepted to the International Communication Association conference, Political Communication Division. London, UK.

Lee, J. (2013). Are some people less influenced by others’ comments?: The role of need for cognition and internal political self-efficacy in impression formation. International Communication Association (ICA), London, UK.

Lee, J. & Song, H. (2013). Why do people post news through social networking sites?: A focus on technology adoption, media bias, and partisanship strength. Paper Accepted for presentation for the Journalism Studies Division of the International Communication Association at the 2013 annual meeting in London, UK. * Top 3 Student paper award 

Song, H. & Eveland., W. P., Jr. (2013). The Structure of Communication Networks Matters: How Network Diversity, Centrality, and Context Influence Political Ambivalence, Participation, and Knowledge. Paper Accepted for presentation for Political Communication Division of the International Communication Association at the 2013 annual meeting in London, UK.

Song, H. (2013). Media and Economic Voting in 2008 U.S. Presidential Election: Beyond Sociotropic and Egotropic Dichotomies. Paper Accepted for presentation for Mass Communication Division of the International Communication Association at the 2013 annual meeting in London, UK.

Weeks, B.E. (2013). Online search behavior and political communication: Building theory with unobtrusive Internet data. Invited panel presentation to be given at the International Communication Association Conference, Mass Communication Division. London, UK.

Weeks, B.E., Ksiazek, T.B., & Holbert, R.L. (2013). Partisan enclaves or diverse repertoires? A network approach to the political media environment. Paper to be presented at the International Communication Association Conference, Political Communication Division. London, UK.

Harvard Journalism project highlights recent work by Weeks and Holbert

Today the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard profiled Brian and Lance's recent Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly article, "Predicting dissemination of news content in social media: A focus on reception, friending, and partisanship".  Each month the Journalism Lab publishes a summary of what its editors consider to be the most interesting new research about digital media.  Glad to see this work getting some well deserved attention!

Abstract:
Social media are an emerging news source, but questions remain regarding how citizens engage news content in this environment. This study focuses on social media news reception and friending a journalist/news organization as predictors of social media news dissemination. Secondary analysis of 2010 Pew data (N = 1,264) reveals reception and friending to be positive predictors of dissemination, and a reception-by-friending interaction is also evident. Partisanship moderates these relationships such that reception is a stronger predictor of dissemination among partisans, while the friending-dissemination link is evident for nonpartisans only. These results provide novel insights into citizens’ social media news experiences.

Congrats to former COPS member Lindsay Hoffman

Former -- or actually, founding -- COPS graduate student member Lindsay Hoffman has just received promotion to Associate Professor and tenure in the Department of Communication at the University of Delaware. Lindsay was among the first students in our "new" graduate curriculum that was instituted in 2002, earning first her MA and then PhD here. Lindsay holds a joint appointment in the Department of Political Science and is the Research Coordinator for Politics and Technology at the Center for Political Communication at UD. Lindsay also blogs for the Huffington Post and has published widely, including a recent paper building upon her dissertation work that was published in Communication Research. Congratulations Lindsay!

Post-doc opportunity

This post-doc will be housed in ASU's Sociology program, but applicants from other disciplines are welcome to apply.  If you're interested in youth political engagement, online protest, flash activism, etc., read on. Personally, I think this is a terrific opportunity for someone. I've known Jenn, the project director, for several years; she's great.  

Youth Activism Postdoctoral Fellowship

Job ID: 9300
Institution: University of Arizona
Department: School of Sociology
Title: Youth Activism Postdoctoral Fellowship
Position/Rank: Fellowships/Post-docs - Post-doctoral

The Youth Activism Project, housed in the School of Sociology at the University of Arizona, invites applications for a one-year, renewable postdoctoral fellowship on youth and participatory politics to begin in Fall 2013. The Youth Activism Project, directed by Dr. Jennifer Earl, is part of the MacArthur Network on Youth and Participatory Politics. It is focused on youth engagement in protest, particularly online protest and flash activism.

The postdoctoral fellow will be responsible for working with the PI to design and implement research studies related to overall project themes, including quantitative content coding of protest websites and analysis of this coding as well as interviews and focus groups with youth about online protest. Strong candidates will have research experience in both quantitative and qualitative methods, notable experience working in Stata or R, and be productive working in teams and independently. All candidates must have a Ph.D. in hand by the commencement of the fellowship and would preferably have received their Ph.D. within the past three years.

The School of Sociology at the University of Arizona is one of the best sociology programs in the country, consistently ranked among the top 20 Sociology programs in the United States for the past thirty years. It boasts a lively intellectual community and has played a pivotal role in the careers of many leading sociologists. Situated in the beautiful southwest in Tucson, the University of Arizona offers excellent benefits and Tucson offers a wonderful living experience. Competitive salary will be based on experience.

To apply, visit www.uacareertrack.com and apply for Job Number 52359. In addition to online forms, candidates must upload a letter of interest, c.v., (including the names of three references) and a research statement (see job ad for details).

The University of Arizona is an equal opportunity employer, committed to building a culturally diverse intellectual community, and strongly encourages applications from women and minority candidates. Review of applications will continue until the position is filled. Only complete applications will be considered.  

Forthcoming paper by COPS member

COPS member Jayeon "Janey" Lee and her fellow grad student Young-shin Lim just had a paper accepted at Mass Communication & Society.  Congratulations to both authors!

Lee, J. & Lim, Y. (in press). Who says what about whom? Young voters’ impression formation of political candidates on social-networking sites, Mass Communication & Society.