Eran Amsalem
Biographic Data
| ID | 1179318 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Eran Amsalem |
| GIVEN NAMES | Eran |
| FAMILY NAME | Amsalem |
| SIGNATURE | AMSALEM E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3135-9775 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 89 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
When Do Broken Campaign Promises Matter? Evidence From Four Experiments
Campaign promises are a central mechanism for voters to hold politicians accountable, and information about their breakage or fulfillment features prominently in the media during election campaigns. Despite the importance of campaign promises, previous research yields conflicting expectations regarding their influence on citizens. Some theories suggest citizens vote based on policy performance and, therefore, consistently penalize actors who brea…
What personality traits do citizens want politicians to have? Observational and experimental evidence of citizens' preferences in three countries
Politicians' personality is believed to play a central role in their electoral success. It is unclear, however, how important different traits are to voters and how the impact of personality compares to that of other well‐studied individual characteristics of politicians, such as gender, age, and political experience. Drawing on evidence from three studies—an observational study (N = 4543), a survey experiment (N = 1031), and a preregistered conj…
Politicians' Theories of Voting Behavior
While political scientists regularly engage in spirited theoretical debates about elections and voting behavior, few have noticed that elected politicians also have theories of elections and voting. Here, we investigate politicians' positions on eight central theoretical debates in the area of elections and voting behavior and compare politicians' theories to those held by ordinary citizens. Using data from face-to-face interviews with nearly one…
The Causal Effect of Candidate Extremity on Citizens’ Preferences: Evidence from Conjoint Experiments
Previous studies demonstrate that politicians’ issue positions and rhetorical style have grown increasingly extreme. It remains unclear, however, whether extremity pays off electorally. Using two preregistered conjoint experiments conducted in the United States (N = 2,006) and Israel (N = 1,999), we investigate whether citizens reward or penalize candidates for taking extreme positions (i.e., proposing radical solutions to societal problems) and …
Do people learn about politics on social media? A meta-analysis of 76 studies
Citizens turn increasingly to social media to get their political information. However, it is currently unclear whether using these platforms actually makes them more politically knowledgeable. While some researchers claim that social media play a critical role in the learning of political information within the modern media environment, others posit that the great potential for learning about politics on social media is rarely fulfilled. The cur…
Personality and the Policy Positions of Politicians
Politicians’ support of or opposition to concrete policies is uniquely consequential for policymaking, public opinion, and a host of other societal outcomes. Explaining their policy positions is therefore a major research agenda in political science. Here, we evaluate the role of politicians’ personality traits, measured with the Big Five typology, in shaping how liberal or conservative their economic and social policy positions are. While existi…
Does Talking to the Other Side Reduce Inter-party Hostility? Evidence from Three Studies
According to recent scholarship, citizens in various Western democracies show a growing sense of dislike and distrust toward members of opposing political parties. While political communication processes have been shown to influence inter-party hostility, the literature has so far focused mainly on mass-mediated communication. We argue here that affective polarization might also be determined by interpersonal political communication. Specifically…
Real, but Limited: A Meta-Analytic Assessment of Framing Effects in the Political Domain
In the past three decades, scholars have frequently used the concept of framing effects to assess the competence of citizens' political judgments and how susceptible they are to elite influence. Yet prior framing studies have reached mixed conclusions, and few have provided systematic cumulative evidence. This study evaluates the overall efficacy of different types of framing effects in the political domain by systematically meta-analyzing this l…
Fine-Grained Analysis of Diversity Levels in the News
Many researchers consider the presentation of diverse content as a prerequisite for the news media to fully exercise their democratic mandate. While prior news diversity studies have contributed important theoretical insights, we argue here that scholarly knowledge of this concept can be significantly advanced by employing computational methods for text analysis. Using automated methods, researchers can increase both the scope of data being analy…
How Informative and Persuasive is Simple Elite Communication
In the past two decades, increasing levels of simplicity in political elite rhetoric have drawn both empirical interest and normative concern from political scientists. While conventional wisdom holds that politicians simplify their public communications because “simplicity works,” the way citizens respond to such messages has hardly been investigated. This study presents the results of two experiments testing the effects of simplicity on two maj…
International Frame Building in Mediated Public Diplomacy
Ever since the Internet and its graphical component on the World Wide Web became part of our commercial landscape, scholars have sounded a refrain, made perhaps most aptly by McLuhan, that the introduction of any new medium should make us rethink the basic theoretical assumptions in our field. This chapter asks the questions: How does the contemporary new media environment shape and re-shape news framing? How are theoretical models and methodolog…
Media Motivation and Elite Rhetoric in Comparative Perspective
The exchange of diverse points of view in elite deliberation is considered a cornerstone of democracy. This study presents evidence that variations in political motivation for media use predict the tendency of politicians to present deliberative rhetoric that considers multiple points of view regarding issues and sees those views as related to one another. We surveyed 111 incumbent Members of Parliament in Belgium, Canada, and Israel and analyzed…
Real, but Limited: A Meta-Analytic Assessment of Framing Effects in the Political Domain
In the past three decades, scholars have frequently used the concept of framing effects to assess the competence of citizens' political judgments and how susceptible they are to elite influence. Yet prior framing studies have reached mixed conclusions, and few have provided systematic cumulative evidence. This study evaluates the overall efficacy of different types of framing effects in the political domain by systematically meta-analyzing this l…
Does Talking to the Other Side Reduce Inter-party Hostility? Evidence from Three Studies
According to recent scholarship, citizens in various Western democracies show a growing sense of dislike and distrust toward members of opposing political parties. While political communication processes have been shown to influence inter-party hostility, the literature has so far focused mainly on mass-mediated communication. We argue here that affective polarization might also be determined by interpersonal political communication. Specifically…
How Informative and Persuasive is Simple Elite Communication
In the past two decades, increasing levels of simplicity in political elite rhetoric have drawn both empirical interest and normative concern from political scientists. While conventional wisdom holds that politicians simplify their public communications because “simplicity works,” the way citizens respond to such messages has hardly been investigated. This study presents the results of two experiments testing the effects of simplicity on two maj…
Politicians' Theories of Voting Behavior
While political scientists regularly engage in spirited theoretical debates about elections and voting behavior, few have noticed that elected politicians also have theories of elections and voting. Here, we investigate politicians' positions on eight central theoretical debates in the area of elections and voting behavior and compare politicians' theories to those held by ordinary citizens. Using data from face-to-face interviews with nearly one…
Media Motivation and Elite Rhetoric in Comparative Perspective
The exchange of diverse points of view in elite deliberation is considered a cornerstone of democracy. This study presents evidence that variations in political motivation for media use predict the tendency of politicians to present deliberative rhetoric that considers multiple points of view regarding issues and sees those views as related to one another. We surveyed 111 incumbent Members of Parliament in Belgium, Canada, and Israel and analyzed…
Personality and the Policy Positions of Politicians
Politicians’ support of or opposition to concrete policies is uniquely consequential for policymaking, public opinion, and a host of other societal outcomes. Explaining their policy positions is therefore a major research agenda in political science. Here, we evaluate the role of politicians’ personality traits, measured with the Big Five typology, in shaping how liberal or conservative their economic and social policy positions are. While existi…
The Causal Effect of Candidate Extremity on Citizens’ Preferences: Evidence from Conjoint Experiments
Previous studies demonstrate that politicians’ issue positions and rhetorical style have grown increasingly extreme. It remains unclear, however, whether extremity pays off electorally. Using two preregistered conjoint experiments conducted in the United States (N = 2,006) and Israel (N = 1,999), we investigate whether citizens reward or penalize candidates for taking extreme positions (i.e., proposing radical solutions to societal problems) and …
Fine-Grained Analysis of Diversity Levels in the News
Many researchers consider the presentation of diverse content as a prerequisite for the news media to fully exercise their democratic mandate. While prior news diversity studies have contributed important theoretical insights, we argue here that scholarly knowledge of this concept can be significantly advanced by employing computational methods for text analysis. Using automated methods, researchers can increase both the scope of data being analy…
Media Motivation and Elite Rhetoric in Comparative Perspective
The exchange of diverse points of view in elite deliberation is considered a cornerstone of democracy. This study presents evidence that variations in political motivation for media use predict the tendency of politicians to present deliberative rhetoric that considers multiple points of view regarding issues and sees those views as related to one another. We surveyed 111 incumbent Members of Parliament in Belgium, Canada, and Israel and analyzed…
International Frame Building in Mediated Public Diplomacy
Ever since the Internet and its graphical component on the World Wide Web became part of our commercial landscape, scholars have sounded a refrain, made perhaps most aptly by McLuhan, that the introduction of any new medium should make us rethink the basic theoretical assumptions in our field. This chapter asks the questions: How does the contemporary new media environment shape and re-shape news framing? How are theoretical models and methodolog…
How Informative and Persuasive is Simple Elite Communication
In the past two decades, increasing levels of simplicity in political elite rhetoric have drawn both empirical interest and normative concern from political scientists. While conventional wisdom holds that politicians simplify their public communications because “simplicity works,” the way citizens respond to such messages has hardly been investigated. This study presents the results of two experiments testing the effects of simplicity on two maj…
Fine-Grained Analysis of Diversity Levels in the News
Many researchers consider the presentation of diverse content as a prerequisite for the news media to fully exercise their democratic mandate. While prior news diversity studies have contributed important theoretical insights, we argue here that scholarly knowledge of this concept can be significantly advanced by employing computational methods for text analysis. Using automated methods, researchers can increase both the scope of data being analy…
Does Talking to the Other Side Reduce Inter-party Hostility? Evidence from Three Studies
According to recent scholarship, citizens in various Western democracies show a growing sense of dislike and distrust toward members of opposing political parties. While political communication processes have been shown to influence inter-party hostility, the literature has so far focused mainly on mass-mediated communication. We argue here that affective polarization might also be determined by interpersonal political communication. Specifically…
Real, but Limited: A Meta-Analytic Assessment of Framing Effects in the Political Domain
In the past three decades, scholars have frequently used the concept of framing effects to assess the competence of citizens' political judgments and how susceptible they are to elite influence. Yet prior framing studies have reached mixed conclusions, and few have provided systematic cumulative evidence. This study evaluates the overall efficacy of different types of framing effects in the political domain by systematically meta-analyzing this l…
Do people learn about politics on social media? A meta-analysis of 76 studies
Citizens turn increasingly to social media to get their political information. However, it is currently unclear whether using these platforms actually makes them more politically knowledgeable. While some researchers claim that social media play a critical role in the learning of political information within the modern media environment, others posit that the great potential for learning about politics on social media is rarely fulfilled. The cur…
Personality and the Policy Positions of Politicians
Politicians’ support of or opposition to concrete policies is uniquely consequential for policymaking, public opinion, and a host of other societal outcomes. Explaining their policy positions is therefore a major research agenda in political science. Here, we evaluate the role of politicians’ personality traits, measured with the Big Five typology, in shaping how liberal or conservative their economic and social policy positions are. While existi…
The Causal Effect of Candidate Extremity on Citizens’ Preferences: Evidence from Conjoint Experiments
Previous studies demonstrate that politicians’ issue positions and rhetorical style have grown increasingly extreme. It remains unclear, however, whether extremity pays off electorally. Using two preregistered conjoint experiments conducted in the United States (N = 2,006) and Israel (N = 1,999), we investigate whether citizens reward or penalize candidates for taking extreme positions (i.e., proposing radical solutions to societal problems) and …
When Do Broken Campaign Promises Matter? Evidence From Four Experiments
Campaign promises are a central mechanism for voters to hold politicians accountable, and information about their breakage or fulfillment features prominently in the media during election campaigns. Despite the importance of campaign promises, previous research yields conflicting expectations regarding their influence on citizens. Some theories suggest citizens vote based on policy performance and, therefore, consistently penalize actors who brea…
What personality traits do citizens want politicians to have? Observational and experimental evidence of citizens' preferences in three countries
Politicians' personality is believed to play a central role in their electoral success. It is unclear, however, how important different traits are to voters and how the impact of personality compares to that of other well‐studied individual characteristics of politicians, such as gender, age, and political experience. Drawing on evidence from three studies—an observational study (N = 4543), a survey experiment (N = 1031), and a preregistered conj…
Politicians' Theories of Voting Behavior
While political scientists regularly engage in spirited theoretical debates about elections and voting behavior, few have noticed that elected politicians also have theories of elections and voting. Here, we investigate politicians' positions on eight central theoretical debates in the area of elections and voting behavior and compare politicians' theories to those held by ordinary citizens. Using data from face-to-face interviews with nearly one…
Political science (10 works) · Politics (9 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Economics (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Positive economics (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (5 works)