Claes De Vreese
Biographic Data
| ID | 308035 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Claes De Vreese |
| GIVEN NAMES | Claes |
| FAMILY NAME | De Vreese |
| SIGNATURE | DE VREESE C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Amsterdam |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 64 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1019 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 63 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 18 |
Changing the norms of citizenship? Attitude, platforms and crisis-driven shifts in 17 countries during the Covid-19 pandemic
This study investigates shifts in citizenship norms during crisis. Citizenship, a core concept of democratic theory, reflects an allegiance to the state founded on public sovereignty, and individuals having the right and capacity to participate in political decision-making. Drawing on Schnaudt et al.’s framework, we explore changes in dutiful, autonomy, and solidarity norms through a two-wave panel study conducted across 17 European democracies i…
Public accountability and regulatory expectations for AI in journalism: Qualitative evidence from focus groups with Dutch citizens
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape society, its integration into journalism raises critical questions about transparency, accountability, and public trust. Existing AI regulations have largely been developed without meaningful public input, prompting concerns about whether current governance approaches adequately address societal expectations. This study investigates the expectations and concerns of Dutch citizens regarding mand…
Deciphering authenticity in the age of AI: How AI-generated disinformation images and AI detection tools influence judgements of authenticity
An ongoing surge of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled false content has been spreading its way through the information ecosystem, including AI-generated images, which have been used as part of political disinformation campaigns. Thus, there remains a pressing need to understand which factors individuals rely upon when determining whether images are AI-generated, particularly when they can be used to spread disinformation. AI-generated images h…
The Hostile Misinformation Effect: How Ideological Congruence Drives the Assessment of Misinformation Targets
Misinformation is increasingly seen as a key challenge to democratic societies. Our study is one of the first to shed light onto the citizen perspective when it comes to the perceived target of misinformation during election campaigns. In doing so, we extend on a classic concept in the (political) communication literature, the hostile media effect, and examine whether this applies to misinformation as well, a so-called hostile misinformation effe…
Preaching to the choirs. Political parties’ online targeting strategies in multi-party systems
Research suggests that political campaigns use online political microtargeting to mobilize a party’s existing voter base rather than to persuade new voters. However, most studies have been conducted in the US, where low turnout and high partisanship create optimal conditions for such a strategy. In this study, we analyze novel data on political parties’ use of targeting in Facebook and Instagram ads to examine the nature of microtargeting. The co…
How Much Data Should I Request? Balancing Richness and Compliance in Digital Trace Data Donations
Digital trace “data donation” studies offer researchers a unique opportunity to collect high-quality behavioral data, but decisions about the scope of requested data can impact both dataset richness and participant compliance. This paper examines the tradeoffs between requesting larger data packages, which include more extensive historical records, and participants’ willingness to donate. In a randomized experiment with Facebook and Instagram dat…
The role of far-right party performance in shaping disinformation concerns of European voters: Evidence from the 2024 European Parliament elections
Concerns about the risk of disinformation in the 2024 European Parliament elections were widespread in European capitals. Simultaneously, the far-right – often linked to the spread of disinformation – gained significant vote shares in these elections. This article therefore asks: To what extent and how does far-right election performance impact disinformation concerns of European voters in the aftermath of the elections? We posit that the electio…
Contesting personalized recommender systems: A cross-country analysis of user preferences
Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube wield substantial influence over digital information flows using sophisticated algorithmic recommender systems (RS). As these systems curate personalized content, concerns have emerged about their propensity to amplify polarizing or inappropriate content, spread misinformation, and infringe on users’ privacy. To address these concerns, the European Union (EU) has recently …
How do Healthy Political Discussions Invigorate Online Participation? Evidence from 17 European Countries
Social media provide unprecedented opportunities for public deliberation. However, a growing number of users perceive negativity in political debate taking place in those venues and are increasingly frustrated when discussing politics with those they disagree with. In this article, we test the proposition that perceiving online discussions as healthier (i.e. more polite and civil) than offline discussions invigorates online political participatio…
Generative AI Generating Concerns: Citizens’ Perspectives During the 2024 European Elections
The 2024 European Parliament (EP) elections (EP24) were regarded as a “testing ground” for artificial intelligence (AI)-powered disinformation threats. Instances of multimodal, AI-generated disinformation were found across European democracies, leading to questions about just how prevalent this threat may be in the eyes of citizens poised to vote in the EP elections, and its influence on electoral processes. Utilizing a three-wave panel approach,…
Can tailored recruitment messaging increase digital trace data donation compliance
Co-creating research at The AI, media, and democracy lab: Reflections on the role of academia in collaborations with media partners
This commentary explores academia’s role in co-creating research with media partners, focusing on the distinct roles and challenges that each stakeholder brings to such partnerships. Starting from the perspective of the AI, Media, and Democracy Lab, and building on the Ethical, Legal, and Societal Aspects (ELSA) approach, we share key learnings from 3 years of collaborations with (media) partners. We conclude that navigating dual roles, expectati…
More Than Justifications an Analysis of Information Needs in Explanations and Motivations to Disable Personalization
There is consensus that algorithmic news recommenders should be explainable to inform news readers of potential risks. However, debates continue over which information users need and which stakeholders should access this information. As the debate continues, researchers also call for more control over algorithmic news recommender systems, for example, by turning off personalized recommendations. Despite this call, it is unclear the extent to whic…
On or off topic? Understanding the effects of issue-related political targeted ads
Whilst data-driven strategies are allegedly prevalent in political campaigns, evidence regarding their actual effectiveness is scarce. This study investigates, from an individual perspective, the effect of issue congruency in political ads on immediate responses and voting behaviors. To reach our goal, we combined different types of data collection: mobile experience sampling method (mESM), panel survey, and content analysis. The combined approac…
What’s on and who’s Watching? Combining People-Meter Data and Subtitle Data to Explore Television Exposure to Political News
Understanding television viewing behavior is highly relevant, as it remains an important source of political news for many. Nowadays, viewers can choose between a growing diversity of formats covering political news, varying from traditional news broadcasts to late-night talk shows and satire. Yet, we have little to no information about the specific political content provided by television programs; and much less how this can be connected to view…
Citizens’ Acceptance of Data-Driven Political Campaigning: A 25-Country Cross-National Vignette Study
This paper investigates how the acceptance of data-driven political campaigning depends on four different message characteristics. A vignette study was conducted in 25 countries with a total of 14,390 respondents who all evaluated multiple descriptions of political advertisements. Relying on multi-level models, we find that in particular the source and the issue of the message matters. Messages that are sent by a party the respondent likes and de…
Reinforce, readjust, reclaim: How artificial intelligence impacts journalism’s professional claim
Major advances in artificial intelligence have fuelled a rapid increase in the automation and augmentation of journalistic work, challenging the centrality of journalists in the news production process. This article theoretically explores news automation by adopting a system of professions framework from the sociology of professions to provide a holistic perspective on the impact of artificial intelligence on journalistic work. This framework pos…
Opportunity structures for user acceptance of news recommender systems (NRS): A multi-country survey study of relationships between individual-level factors and evaluations of NRS
Digitalization of the media is often discussed in terms of effects on the user. What is often overlooked are the motivations from users, on the individual level, for the acceptance of new technologies. This study explores what individual-level factors make up favorable opportunity structures for the implementation of news recommender systems (NRS). We conduct a cross-sectional survey ( n = 5073) in five countries (The Netherlands, Switzerland, Po…
Exploring digital campaign competence: The Role of Knowledge in Data-Driven Election Campaigns
Justifying an Invasion: When Is Disinformation Successful
Conventional wisdom suggests that social media, especially when used by authoritarian powers with nefarious aims, leaves citizens of democratic countries vulnerable to psychological influence campaigns. But such concerns overlook predispositions among recipients of false claims to reject (or to endorse) conspiratorial narratives. Analyzing responses from a survey fielded in 19 countries, we find that it is a preexisting conspiracy outlook at the …
Risks and protective measures for synthetic relationships
Game Over? Using (Not So) Innovative Interventions to Increase Digital Campaign Competence
Data-driven political campaigning strategies often remain a black box for citizens; however, educational interventions provide a means to enhance understanding, conscious evaluations, and skills. In this context, we term this combination digital campaign competence (DCC). We conducted an online pre-registered experiment in Austria ( N = 553) using a 2 × 2 between-subject design to compare intervention formats (reading a voter guide vs. playing a …
When Worlds Collide: Journalistic, Market, and Tech Logics in the Adoption of News Recommender Systems
An increasing number of media organisations are adopting news recommender systems (NRS). Such algorithmic technologies, which prioritise content based on, for example, previous user behaviour or popularity metrics, may have far-reaching repercussions for news work. Despite this, the implications of NRS implementation for intra-organisational practices as well as dynamics and tensions between involved actors remain understudied. Against this backg…
Exploring users’ desire for transparency and control in news recommender systems: A five-nation study
As news organizations increasingly adopt AI-driven technologies like news recommender systems (NRS), notions of responsible artificial intelligence (AI) design have attracted significant scholarly and public attention. Particularly, transparency and user control are crucial for the fulfilment of democratic freedoms and human rights. However, users’ desire for such features in NRS has not yet been sufficiently examined. Therefore, this study set o…
The Data Abyss: How Lack of Data Access Leaves Research and Society in the Dark
This article articulates why the lack of social media platform data access for researchers is a huge problem, for research and society. We then review a number of ongoing initiatives and opportunities towards ensuring sustainable data accees
Effects of Election News Coverage: How Visibility and Tone Influence Party Choice
Previous research has shown that a party's election results can depend on visibility and tone in the media. Using daily content data from the major news bulletins and daily survey data from the 2007 national election campaign in Denmark (N = 5,083), our analysis improves upon two central aspects of this earlier research. First, the effects on vote choice of the parties' visibility and tone in the media are studied concurrently in the same model. …
How the Media Shape Perceptions of Right-Wing Populist Leaders
It is often argued that right-wing populist party leaders are dependent on the media for their public image, which in turn is key for their electoral success. This study tests this assumption by comparing the effects of the media coverage of 2 Dutch right-wing populist leaders with the effects of the coverage of leaders of established parties, in a real-life setting, by tracking campaign developments in the Dutch 2006 national election campaign. …
A reality check: How journalists’ role perceptions impact their implementation of the objectivity norm
Objectivity is a cornerstone in the journalistic profession. Based on a journalist survey among Danish journalists (N = 2008) we find that journalists’ role perceptions have substantial explanatory power in regard to how journalists implement the objectivity norm. The objectivity norm pervades the news production process by guiding journalists when they select, gather, and present the news, and the results give a hint about how journalistic role …
Issue Importance as a Moderator of Framing Effects
A growing amount of research is devoted to the question of which individual and contextual variables enhance, limit, or obliterate news framing effects. However, the fundamental question whether framing effects vary depending on the issue at stake has not been addressed. Based on two experimental studies (total N = 1,821), this article investigates the extent to which framing effects differ in magnitude as well as process, depending on how import…
The Real Spiral of Cynicism? Symbiosis and Mistrust between Politicians and Journalists
The relationship among media, politicians, and the public has been studied a lot, especially how the media’s portrayal of politics affects people’s (cynical) attitudes. Scholars know little about the antecedent of this assumed spiral of cynicism: How cynical are politicians and journalists about each other and about politics? Based on a survey among Dutch politicians and political journalists, the research presented in this article tries to fill …
Valenced news frames and public support for the EU
Previous research on framing focuses either on frames in the news or framing effects. This multi-method study investigated first of all how a key European Union summit was framed in the national news of three European countries. Secondly, it looked at the effects of the news media coverage on support for the EU and for the enlargement of the EU. A content analysis of 717 newspaper and television news stories in Great Britain, Germany, and The Net…
Europhile Media and Eurosceptic Voting: Effects of News Media Coverage on Eurosceptic Voting in the 2009 European Parliamentary Elections
Extant research is not very specific about when the media matter for vote choice. In this study, we test multiple theories about the influences of the media on vote choice in 21 countries. The European Parliamentary (EP) election campaign offers a unique research context to test these influences. We rely on a two-wave panel survey conducted in 21 European Union (EU) member states, asking both vote intentions before the campaign and reported actua…
Manufacturing Conflict? How Journalists Intervene in the Conflict Frame Building Process
A considerable amount of research is devoted to the presence and effects of conflict frames in the news. However, it is unknown if journalists actively manufacture and inflate conflict in their coverage of politics, or if they merely respond to contentious politics as it happens. This study focuses on the extent to which journalists take an interventionist stance in the conflict frame building process. We conducted expert interviews ( N = 16) amo…
So what’s wrong with the EU? Motivations underlying the Eurosceptic vote in the 2009 European elections
In recent decades, ordinary European Union (EU) citizens have been able to express their opinion on the course of the European project on several occasions. Judging from electoral outcomes, there is quite some Euroscepticism among them. What motivations underlie the Eurosceptic vote? Using an extended and comprehensive multidimensional measure of EU attitudes, we investigate which specific attitudes and issue positions were conducive to Euroscept…
Does the platform matter? Social media and Covid-19 conspiracy theory beliefs in 17 countries
While the role of social media in the spread of conspiracy theories has received much attention, a key deficit in previous research is the lack of distinction between different types of platforms. This study places the role of social media affordances in facilitating the spread of conspiracy beliefs at the center of its enquiry. We examine the relationship between platform use and conspiracy theory beliefs related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Relyin…
Towards A Typology of Conflict Frames: Substantiveness and interventionism in political conflict news
Conflict-framing literature has suffered from a lack of consistent conceptualization and consequently the aim of this paper is to unravel the dimensionality of conflict frames. We conducted a content analysis (N = 1536) to develop a typology of conflict news coverage. Using factor analysis, different aspects of conflict news are distinguished with level of substantiveness and interventionism as the main dimensions. Furthermore, the study focuses …
Talking Turkey: Anti-immigrant attitudes and their effect on support for Turkish membership of the EU
Recent studies have shown that the most important factor explaining opinions on European Union issues is attitudes towards immigrants. Two arguments are given to explain this effect. We contend that these arguments are both built on the idea that people with anti-immigrant attitudes frame other Europeans as an out-group. We then test the validity of these arguments by measuring how respondents in a voter survey frame the issue of Turkish membersh…
The Fourth Estate as Superpower: An empirical study of perceptions of media power in Belgium and the Netherlands
The power of the media has long been at the centre of communication studies, mostly focusing on the effects they have on the public. Power over politics is far less studied, however many politicians complain about such media power after a lost election or when observing political cynicism among the public. In this paper, the results of a survey on politicians and journalists in Belgium and the Netherlands are presented, showing the perceptions of…
When News Matters: Media Effects on Public Support for European Union Enlargement in 21 Countries
First, this study tests for media effects on support for EU enlargement in a natural setting, while including actual media content in the analysis. Second, the moderation by anti‐immigrant attitudes of media effects is tested, as it is argued that perceptions of ‘others’ influences how new information on enlargement is received. The study draws on a two‐wave panel survey and a media content analysis in 21 countries. The results suggest there is a…
Pathway to Political Participation: The Influence of Online and Offline News Media on Internal Efficacy and Turnout of First-Time Voters
News media play a key role in informing young citizens about politics and cultivating a sense of political efficacy. Online news media, in particular, are expected to have a positive impact due to their interactivity and new opportunities to share and discuss information. This study analyzes the impact of online and offline news media use on the growth in internal efficacy among adolescents, based on data we collected in a three-wave panel survey…
Conflict and Identity: Explaining Turnout and Anti‐integrationist Voting in the Danish 2004 Elections for the European Parliament
This article investigates electoral participation and the antecedents of anti‐integrationist voting (AIV) in the Danish 2004 European parliamentary elections. First, it focuses on the effects of the campaign and assesses the importance of social demographics and political predispositions vis‐à‐vis mediated and interpersonal communication on turnout. Second, it investigates AIV, focusing on ‘hard’ utilitarian predictors and ‘soft’ cultural predict…
Waving the Red Cloth
This study extends the boundary conditions of the work on media effects on polarization by (1) examining whether exposure to news coverage about a contentious political issue polarizes attitudes, especially among the already-polarized citizens; (2) analyzing "easy" and "hard" dimensions of EU attitudes; and (3) offering causal and generalizable evidence in a non-US context. Individual-level data from a representative four-wave panel survey are ma…
Beyond Young, Highly Educated Males: A Typology of VAA Users
Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) are Web tools that are used to inform increasing numbers of voters during elections. This increasing usage indicates that VAAs fulfill voters’ needs, but what these needs are is unknown. Previous research has shown that such tools are primarily used by young males and highly educated citizens. This suggests that VAAs are generally used by citizens who are already well-informed about politics and may not need the …
The good, the bad and the voter: The impact of hate speech prosecution of a politician on electoral support for his party
Hate speech prosecution of politicians is a common phenomenon in established democracies. Examples of politicians tried for hate speech include Nick Griffin in Britain and Jean-Marie Le Pen in France. Does hate speech prosecution of politicians affect the electoral support for their party? This is an important question, as the parties involved typically are controversial, often accused of stirring up political cynicism or political violence. The …
Suspicious minds: Explaining political cynicism among political journalists in Europe
Critics claim that journalists spread a cynical view of politics, as their relation with politicians is characterized by mistrust and hyper-adversarialism. To gain an insight into how cynical journalists themselves are about politics and how this can be explained, this article investigates the role relationship between politicians and journalists in four European countries with different political communication systems. The empirical basis for th…
Second-order’ institutions: National institutional quality as a yardstick for EU evaluation
The extent to which democracy functions successfully in the European Union is a hotly debated issue. Some citizens feel that EU democracy functions well as it is, whereas others perceive a democratic deficit. Which factors contribute to this variation in opinion? In this paper, we focus on the effect that the quality of national institutions has on citizens' perceptions of the democratic performance of the EU. From voter survey data from 21 EU me…
Political consumerism, young citizens and the Internet
Evidence suggests that purchasing products for ethical or political reasons−also known as political consumerism−may be gaining in importance. With (young) people’s declining voting rates and a general disinterest in political institutions, scholars and political elites alike are speculating on the evolution of citizenship. Research shows that citizens in countries like the UK see issue and life-style-based politics as increasingly relevant. These…
The Data Abyss: How Lack of Data Access Leaves Research and Society in the Dark
This article articulates why the lack of social media platform data access for researchers is a huge problem, for research and society. We then review a number of ongoing initiatives and opportunities towards ensuring sustainable data accees
Spiraling downward: The reciprocal relation between attitude toward political behavioral targeting and privacy concerns
Tailored political messages are increasingly prevalent in election time, but we know little about how people perceive such data-driven and potentially privacy-infringing techniques. This article examines how demographics relate to privacy concerns and attitudes toward “political behavioral targeting” (PBT), how privacy concerns and attitudes toward PBT relate over time, and explore their relation with autonomy, electoral deliberation, and chillin…
The Effect of Voting Advice Applications on Political Knowledge and Vote Choice
In many countries with multiparty systems, a decline in class voting has increased volatility and the need for comprehensive information about the political landscape among voters. Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) are online tools that match users to political parties and, as such, they hold a promise of reinforcing informational transparency and democratic representation. The current research investigated whether VAAs live up to this expectatio…
Valenced news frames and public support for the EU
Previous research on framing focuses either on frames in the news or framing effects. This multi-method study investigated first of all how a key European Union summit was framed in the national news of three European countries. Secondly, it looked at the effects of the news media coverage on support for the EU and for the enlargement of the EU. A content analysis of 717 newspaper and television news stories in Great Britain, Germany, and The Net…
Conflict and Identity: Explaining Turnout and Anti‐integrationist Voting in the Danish 2004 Elections for the European Parliament
This article investigates electoral participation and the antecedents of anti‐integrationist voting (AIV) in the Danish 2004 European parliamentary elections. First, it focuses on the effects of the campaign and assesses the importance of social demographics and political predispositions vis‐à‐vis mediated and interpersonal communication on turnout. Second, it investigates AIV, focusing on ‘hard’ utilitarian predictors and ‘soft’ cultural predict…
The Fourth Estate as Superpower: An empirical study of perceptions of media power in Belgium and the Netherlands
The power of the media has long been at the centre of communication studies, mostly focusing on the effects they have on the public. Power over politics is far less studied, however many politicians complain about such media power after a lost election or when observing political cynicism among the public. In this paper, the results of a survey on politicians and journalists in Belgium and the Netherlands are presented, showing the perceptions of…
The Real Spiral of Cynicism? Symbiosis and Mistrust between Politicians and Journalists
The relationship among media, politicians, and the public has been studied a lot, especially how the media’s portrayal of politics affects people’s (cynical) attitudes. Scholars know little about the antecedent of this assumed spiral of cynicism: How cynical are politicians and journalists about each other and about politics? Based on a survey among Dutch politicians and political journalists, the research presented in this article tries to fill …
Issue Importance as a Moderator of Framing Effects
A growing amount of research is devoted to the question of which individual and contextual variables enhance, limit, or obliterate news framing effects. However, the fundamental question whether framing effects vary depending on the issue at stake has not been addressed. Based on two experimental studies (total N = 1,821), this article investigates the extent to which framing effects differ in magnitude as well as process, depending on how import…
Effects of Election News Coverage: How Visibility and Tone Influence Party Choice
Previous research has shown that a party's election results can depend on visibility and tone in the media. Using daily content data from the major news bulletins and daily survey data from the 2007 national election campaign in Denmark (N = 5,083), our analysis improves upon two central aspects of this earlier research. First, the effects on vote choice of the parties' visibility and tone in the media are studied concurrently in the same model. …
News media representations of a common EU foreign and security policy. A cross-national content analysis of CFSP coverage in national quality newspapers
Suspicious minds: Explaining political cynicism among political journalists in Europe
Critics claim that journalists spread a cynical view of politics, as their relation with politicians is characterized by mistrust and hyper-adversarialism. To gain an insight into how cynical journalists themselves are about politics and how this can be explained, this article investigates the role relationship between politicians and journalists in four European countries with different political communication systems. The empirical basis for th…
Political consumerism, young citizens and the Internet
Evidence suggests that purchasing products for ethical or political reasons−also known as political consumerism−may be gaining in importance. With (young) people’s declining voting rates and a general disinterest in political institutions, scholars and political elites alike are speculating on the evolution of citizenship. Research shows that citizens in countries like the UK see issue and life-style-based politics as increasingly relevant. These…
So what’s wrong with the EU? Motivations underlying the Eurosceptic vote in the 2009 European elections
In recent decades, ordinary European Union (EU) citizens have been able to express their opinion on the course of the European project on several occasions. Judging from electoral outcomes, there is quite some Euroscepticism among them. What motivations underlie the Eurosceptic vote? Using an extended and comprehensive multidimensional measure of EU attitudes, we investigate which specific attitudes and issue positions were conducive to Euroscept…
How the Media Shape Perceptions of Right-Wing Populist Leaders
It is often argued that right-wing populist party leaders are dependent on the media for their public image, which in turn is key for their electoral success. This study tests this assumption by comparing the effects of the media coverage of 2 Dutch right-wing populist leaders with the effects of the coverage of leaders of established parties, in a real-life setting, by tracking campaign developments in the Dutch 2006 national election campaign. …
Talking Turkey: Anti-immigrant attitudes and their effect on support for Turkish membership of the EU
Recent studies have shown that the most important factor explaining opinions on European Union issues is attitudes towards immigrants. Two arguments are given to explain this effect. We contend that these arguments are both built on the idea that people with anti-immigrant attitudes frame other Europeans as an out-group. We then test the validity of these arguments by measuring how respondents in a voter survey frame the issue of Turkish membersh…
When News Matters: Media Effects on Public Support for European Union Enlargement in 21 Countries
First, this study tests for media effects on support for EU enlargement in a natural setting, while including actual media content in the analysis. Second, the moderation by anti‐immigrant attitudes of media effects is tested, as it is argued that perceptions of ‘others’ influences how new information on enlargement is received. The study draws on a two‐wave panel survey and a media content analysis in 21 countries. The results suggest there is a…
A reality check: How journalists’ role perceptions impact their implementation of the objectivity norm
Objectivity is a cornerstone in the journalistic profession. Based on a journalist survey among Danish journalists (N = 2008) we find that journalists’ role perceptions have substantial explanatory power in regard to how journalists implement the objectivity norm. The objectivity norm pervades the news production process by guiding journalists when they select, gather, and present the news, and the results give a hint about how journalistic role …
Second-order’ institutions: National institutional quality as a yardstick for EU evaluation
The extent to which democracy functions successfully in the European Union is a hotly debated issue. Some citizens feel that EU democracy functions well as it is, whereas others perceive a democratic deficit. Which factors contribute to this variation in opinion? In this paper, we focus on the effect that the quality of national institutions has on citizens' perceptions of the democratic performance of the EU. From voter survey data from 21 EU me…
The differential role of the media as an agent of political socialization in Europe
Declining political involvement of adolescents in western society has caused widespread concerns about the health of democracy in the future. This study investigates the role of the media in the formation of political attitudes and political mobilization of adolescents. Based on a secondary data analysis of the European Social Survey ( N = 5657), the influence of exposure to news and entertainment content on political trust, signing petitions and…
A threat called Turkey: Perceived religious threat and support for EU entry of Croatia, Switzerland and Turkey
Beyond Young, Highly Educated Males: A Typology of VAA Users
Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) are Web tools that are used to inform increasing numbers of voters during elections. This increasing usage indicates that VAAs fulfill voters’ needs, but what these needs are is unknown. Previous research has shown that such tools are primarily used by young males and highly educated citizens. This suggests that VAAs are generally used by citizens who are already well-informed about politics and may not need the …
Europhile Media and Eurosceptic Voting: Effects of News Media Coverage on Eurosceptic Voting in the 2009 European Parliamentary Elections
Extant research is not very specific about when the media matter for vote choice. In this study, we test multiple theories about the influences of the media on vote choice in 21 countries. The European Parliamentary (EP) election campaign offers a unique research context to test these influences. We rely on a two-wave panel survey conducted in 21 European Union (EU) member states, asking both vote intentions before the campaign and reported actua…
Pathway to Political Participation: The Influence of Online and Offline News Media on Internal Efficacy and Turnout of First-Time Voters
News media play a key role in informing young citizens about politics and cultivating a sense of political efficacy. Online news media, in particular, are expected to have a positive impact due to their interactivity and new opportunities to share and discuss information. This study analyzes the impact of online and offline news media use on the growth in internal efficacy among adolescents, based on data we collected in a three-wave panel survey…
Economic News Through the Magnifying Glass: How the media cover economic boom and bust
One of the normative functions of economic news is surveillance, making monitorial citizens aware of significant economic developments. In this light, it is important to look at the way economic news covers periods of recession and economic boom. Previous studies have focused on how the media cover monthly developments of the economy rather than how coverage varies over the course of the economic cycle. Based on parallels between self-reinforcing…
A Tribute to Professor Wolfgang Donsbach
The WAPOR/IJPOR community was shocked and saddened by the unexpected passing of Professor Wolfgang Donsbach. He leaves behind an outstanding legacy of contributions to public opinion research and the social sciences, more generally. He was a scholar, a public intellectual, a mentor, and an institution builder. The International Journal of Public Opinion Research would not be what it is today without Professor Donsbach. He twice served as the jour…
Manufacturing Conflict? How Journalists Intervene in the Conflict Frame Building Process
A considerable amount of research is devoted to the presence and effects of conflict frames in the news. However, it is unknown if journalists actively manufacture and inflate conflict in their coverage of politics, or if they merely respond to contentious politics as it happens. This study focuses on the extent to which journalists take an interventionist stance in the conflict frame building process. We conducted expert interviews ( N = 16) amo…
The good, the bad and the voter: The impact of hate speech prosecution of a politician on electoral support for his party
Hate speech prosecution of politicians is a common phenomenon in established democracies. Examples of politicians tried for hate speech include Nick Griffin in Britain and Jean-Marie Le Pen in France. Does hate speech prosecution of politicians affect the electoral support for their party? This is an important question, as the parties involved typically are controversial, often accused of stirring up political cynicism or political violence. The …
The Effect of Voting Advice Applications on Political Knowledge and Vote Choice
In many countries with multiparty systems, a decline in class voting has increased volatility and the need for comprehensive information about the political landscape among voters. Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) are online tools that match users to political parties and, as such, they hold a promise of reinforcing informational transparency and democratic representation. The current research investigated whether VAAs live up to this expectatio…
Political science (52 works) · Politics (38 works) · Social Media and Politics (35 works) · Sociology (34 works) · Law (33 works) · Law (30 works) · Psychology (30 works) · Computer Science (25 works) · Public relations (22 works) · Business (20 works)