Professor D. Sunshine Hillygus. (Didn't I tell you it was an interesting name ;?) Prof. Hillygus is an expert in divining the meanings of polls and how pols use them. She teaches at Harvard's Kennedy school of government.
"Political scholars have long recognized that information
and
communication technologies have fundamentally altered how candidates run campaigns--websites, online fundraising, and email communication have become integral to political campaigns. Often, however, these new technologies are viewed as a supplemental communication tool for conducting "politics as usual"— presumed to change the style of political campaigns, but not the basic structure of political interaction. Prof. Hillygus argues that new technologies have changed not only how candidates communicate with voters, it has also
changed the substance of that communication. "
I think I am going to knock off work early today and go over there to catch her talk ...just to see if she really has a halo.
So, how was it?
ReplyDeleteunfortunately, I had to prepare for a meeting and could not attend. I am going to see if someone videotaped the talk.
ReplyDeleteI can't get any transcript but it looks like it was partly a book promotion: her topic was from one of the chapters in her latest book. The first chapter of that book is on line and it looks quite interesting...like reading Stoller or Bowers but with tons of foot notes. I am going to blog/review the first chapter of the book.
ReplyDeleteHer presentation was to a small audience very sophisticated about technology and moderately sophisticated about politics...I would love to have heard the dinner conversations and Q&A.
To whet your appetite:
Some use the term wedge issue
to refer to only that class
of issues that both divides the
opposition and creates consensus
among one’s own supporters.
Certainly, such issues offer a
clear and obvious strategic
advantage, but we do not
require this latter condition
because, as we argue later, the
current information environment
makes it possible to use even
those issues on which there are
cleavages within a candidate’s
own supporters. By narrowcasting
different messages to different
audiences, candidates are now
able to use issues that would
otherwise create friction within
their own coalitions.