The Rumi Forum presented “Political Effects of the New Media” with Dr. Catie Snow Bailard, School of Media and Public Affairs, The George Washington University
Synopsis:
While recent events have spotlighted the Internet’s capacity to make political organization more efficient once disaffected citizens are moved to action, this paper tests another component of the Internet’s potential to influence the cost-benefit calculus of political behavior: the motivation to act or organize in the first place. After introducing two of the causal mechanisms-the Internet’s mirror-holding and window-opening functions-that influence how individuals evaluate their government, we will specifically consider the Internet’s influence on citizens’ (dis)satisfaction with the way that “democracy” functions in their own countries.
Bio:
Before joining the SMPA faculty in 2009, Catie received her doctorate in political science from UCLA. She graduated with a 3.947 cumulative GPA with concentrations in American Politics, Formal and Quantitative Methods, and International Relations. Throughout Catie’s academic career, her research agenda has primarily focused on the intersection of telecommunications and politics. This fascination with the effect of mass media on politics began in college as a major in UCLA’s Communication Studies Department, which is a top-ranked undergraduate department, where she graduated cum laude. It was this fascination that inspired Catie’s decision to pursue a doctoral degree in political science at UCLA, which provided her with a broad substantive understanding of political communication as well as rigorous training in methodology. While the majority of early political communication research focused on television’s impact on electoral outcomes in America, Catie’s research agenda seeks to broaden this field by focusing on political outcomes beyond elections, beyond the American borders, as well as media technologies beyond television.
Catie’s dissertation was a cross-national analysis of the Internet’s influence on attitudes toward democracy, particularly focused on the satisfaction with how democracy functions in one’s own nation. Extensive quantitative analyses, as well as a field experiment that she conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, substantiate the Internet’s interactive effect on democratic satisfaction. Other recent work includes an analysis of the impact of mobile phones on corruption in Africa (published in Political Communication). Catie’s approach to research is multi-disciplinary, with a particular preference for merging cutting edge quantitative analyses with randomized experiments since, in combination, these methods provide a broad empirical foundation for studies of media effects.
Catie is a fifth-generation Californian and, before moving to the District of Columbia, was a life-long resident of The Golden State. Born and raised in the San Francisco area, with several years in Los Angeles during her studies, Catie has inherited a strong appreciation for both Southern and Northern California sports teams (much to the chagrin and confusion of most Californians) while the 49ers and San Francisco Giants are her first loves, she is also a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers. When not analyzing the intricacies of the field of political communication, Professor Bailard is also an aficionado of zombie movies and culture.
Moderator: Patrice Hill, Chief Economic Correspondent, The Washington Times