Event

How Incivility On Partisan Media (De-)Polarizes the Electorate

Talk by Professor Matt Levendusky - the leading scholars in the field of elite influence on political behavior.

Info about event

Time

Tuesday 27 June 2017,  at 14:00 - 15:30

Professor Matt Levendusky from the University of Pennsylvania will visit our department. Matt Levendusky is one of the leading scholars in the field of elite influence on political behavior, and he has worked on a variety of topics related to partisanship, polarization and media.

He will give a talk about his research agenda and a new study he has conducted in collaboration with Professor Jamie Druckman from Northwestern University. In the study, they examine how incivility (i.e., harsh rhetoric and disrespectful behavior) in partisan media can both polarize and depolarize the electorate. The talk should be interesting to many of you, not least those doing work related to opinion formation, media, and partisanship. 

For more info contact Rasmus Skytte raks@ps.au.dk, 8716 6225

Abstract:
How Incivility On Partisan Media (De-)Polarizes the Electorate
Partisan media—typically characterized by incivility—has become a defining element of the American political communication environment. While scholars have explored the consequences of partisan media for political attitudes and behaviors, past work cannot disentangle the distinct consequences of incivility from other features of partisan media, such as slant. We outline a theory about why incivility on partisan outlets shapes attitudes, and how those effects depend on both the source and the audience. We test our argument using a population-based survey experiment and find support for our expectations. We show that incivility de­polarizes partisans when it comes from a same-party source (e.g., MSNBC for Democrats, Fox News for Republicans). When it comes from the other-party source, however, it polarizes. We find these effects, albeit to a smaller extent, even among those inclined to enjoy conflict. Our results raise intriguing normative questions about the tradeoffs between polarization and incivility.