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Research in Political Communication

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The Communication Department is home to the world’s leading scholars studying political communication. The area focuses on how communication and media affect political attitudes and behaviors, as well as what communication reveals about the workings of political institutions and political systems. The area is also known for its innovation in research methods and focus on scientific inference.

James Fishkin directs the Center for Deliberative Democracy, devoted to research and applications of Deliberative Polling, a method of public consultation for engaging representative and informed opinion on policy issues. The center has collaborated on projects in more than 24 countries.

James Hamilton directs the Journalism Program. His research focuses on the economics of news, including the effects of market failures on reporting, the relationship between income and information, and computational journalism.

Shanto Iyengar directs the Political Communication Laboratory, which focuses on the role of mass media in democratic societies. Much of his work uses experimental methods to measure the causal effects of news media and mass communication on political opinion and behavior.

Jon Krosnick directs the Political Psychology Research Group, which focuses on (1) the effects of political communication on attitude formation, change, and impact, and (2) optimizing methods of survey research in order to study political cognition and action.

Jennifer Pan’s research focuses on revealing the political choices and outcomes of non-democratic societies through their patterns of communication and information control using computational and experimental methods.

Faculty — Political Communication

Postdoctoral Scholars — Political Communication

Doctoral Students — Political Communication

Selected Graduates

  • Yingdan Lu, Ph.D. 2023. Assistant Professor, School of Communication, Northwestern University
  • Adina Abeles, Ph.D. 2020. Quantitative Social Scientist, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
  • Kaiping Chen, Ph.D. 2019. Assistant Professor, Communication Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Kaiping Zhang, Ph.D. 2017. Assistant Professor, Tsinghua University, Beijing
  • Sean Westwood, Ph.D. 2014, Assistant Professor of Government, Dartmouth College
  • Nuri Kim, Ph.D. 2013. Associate Professor, School of Communication, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
  • Yphtach Lelkes, Ph.D. 2012, Associate Professor, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
  • Michael Weiksner, Ph.D. 2010, General Partner, Rostrum Capital
  • Alice Siu, Ph.D. 2009, Associate Director, Stanford Center for Deliberative Democracy
  • Philip Garland, Ph.D. 2008. Vice President, Data Science, Snap! Raise
  • Daniel Schneider, Ph.D. 2008. Freelance Consultant, Berlin, Germany
  • Brett Bannon, Ph.D. 2008, Founder, LearnRig
  • Kyu Hahn, Ph.D. 2006, Associate Professor of Communication, Seoul National University
  • Markus Prior, Ph.D. 2003, Associate Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, Princeton University
  • Hye-Ryeon Lee, Ph.D. 2000, Associate Dean, College of Arts and Humanities, University of Hawaii
  • Michael McDevitt, Ph.D. 1998, Professor, University of Colorado at Boulder
  • Diana Mutz, Ph.D. 1988, Samuel A. Stouffer Professor of Political Science and Communication, University of Pennsylvania
  • Vincent Price , Ph.D. 1987, President, Duke University, where he is also Walter Hines Page Professor of Public Policy and Political Science in the Sanford School of Public Policy and Trinity College of Arts and Sciences