… In February 2016, using a representative sample of 725 California residents, we conducted a survey experiment to see if liberals and conservatives view protests differently, and how those attitudes might be conditioned by the ideological goals of particular social movements. A few studies have shown that conservatives hold protesters […] Read more »
How the Internet Threatens Democracy
As the forces of reaction outpace movements predicated on the ideal of progress, and as traditional norms of political competition are tossed aside, it’s clear that the internet and social media have succeeded in doing what many feared and some hoped they would. They have disrupted and destroyed institutional constraints […] Read more »
Results from the Bright Line Watch U.S. Democracy Survey
BLW conducted its first U.S. Democracy Survey from February 13-19, 2017. We invited 9,820 political science faculty at 511 U.S. institutions to participate and received 1,571 responses (a response rate of 16 percent). … The survey had two broad goals. The first was to learn what qualities our respondents regard […] Read more »
Town Hall Tension: Protesters Seek Answers From GOP
GOP pollster Glen Bolger joins MTP Daily to take a look at how Republicans across the country are responding to angry protesters at town halls. NBC News Read more »
The big mistake some anti-Trump protesters could be making
… Assuming their goal is to win popular support, how far can protesters go before their tactics become a hindrance, prompting backlash instead of winning hearts and minds? Are disruptive or violent acts of protest effective in winning support for a cause? In the past year, we conducted experiments to […] Read more »
When Trump’s tweets are angry, the mood of his followers darkens
Michael Berkman, Pennsylvania State University President Donald Trump has shown a unique ability to use Twitter as a way to connect directly with his followers. His tweets show his supporters what he is thinking, directly and unvarnished. Less well appreciated, but apparent in our research based on new polling, is […] Read more »