Walter Mebane, a professor of political science and statistics at the University of Michigan and co-author of a 2017 guide to election forensics for the U.S. Agency for International Development, urges caution when attributing election anomalies to possible fraud. “The problem is that many of the patterns that look irregular according to many statistical methods… Continue reading What Does a Crooked Election Look Like?

Those in the United States who disagree strongly on many issues at least can agree that this is an extremely divided nation.¶¶That’s a start, says Arthur Lupia, the Hal R. Varian Collegiate Professor of Political Science, professor of political science, and research professor at the Center for Political Studies.¶¶He says it is in such areas… Continue reading Teach-out to encourage common ground in turbulent times

Angry Americans will be more likely to vote, and Democrats are generally more angry about their hot-button issues than Republicans, according to the Reuters/Ipsos data. That is a change from two years ago, when Republicans and Democrats were equally furious, said Nicholas Valentino, a voter behavior expert at the University of Michigan who collaborated on… Continue reading Valentino comments on the change in atmosphere surrounding election polls since 2016

Christian Sandvig was named the H. Marshall McLuhan Collegiate Professor in Digital Media by the University of Michigan Board of Regents. This is a newly-created professorship, which honors H. Marshall McLuhan, who is best known for the theorization of digital media. Congratulations, Christian!

A September 2018 survey of likely Michigan voters found that about 30% of all polled and about 66% of “strong Republicans” agreed that the media represents an “enemy of the people.” Although Americans have always been cynical about news reporting that doesn’t align with their own beliefs, says ISR’s Josh Pasek, this represents a new… Continue reading Pasek: Vilification of news media widens US political divide

Brian Weeks, along with Homero Gil de Zúñiga and Alberto Ardèvol-Abreu, received the award for Best Information Technology and Politics Article at the 2018 APSA Annual Meeting. Their article “Effects of the News-Finds-Me Perception in Communication: Social Media Use Implications for News Seeking and Learning About Politics” was published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.… Continue reading Brian Weeks receives award for Best Information Technology and Politics Article

Harvard’s Matthew Baum and Dara Cohen and ISR’s Yuri Zhukov analyzed news stories on rape published in 279 US newspapers, 2000 to 2013.They found that communities in which news coverage reflected rape culture – that is, coverage that seems to blame victims, empathize with perpetrators, imply victim consent, and question victims’ credibility – have both… Continue reading Zhukov and colleagues link rape culture in news coverage to rape frequency

Arthur Lupia, has been selected by the National Science Foundation to serve as the head of its Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences. Congratulations Arthur! ISR news release