The American Politics Workshop

presents

Justin Grimmer

Associate Professor in Political Science

 University of Chicago

“Changing the Subject to Build an Audience: How Elected Officials Affect Constituent Communication”

(Paper attached) 

Abstract

The constitution guarantees citizens the right to petition their elected officials and constituent communication is a central feature of representation. Yet, little is known about what constituents say and why they raise particular issues. Using an original data set of 2.7 million public posts and comments made on elected officials’ Facebook Pages, we show how the public’s comments follow the ebbs and flows of salient national debates. We also demonstrate that elected officials are able to influence the number and tone of constituent messages. When elected officials post on salient and national topics they increase the number of comments they receive. But weighing in on salient debates causes an increase in attacking comments and a decrease comments that praise the elected official. Our results highlight the tradeoffs elected officials face when choosing how to engage the public: engaging in national issues increases attention, but increases the incidence of harsh language.

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

12:00 – 1:20 pm

**Lunch will be served**

Location: Pick Hall, First Floor Lounge, 5828 S. University Ave.

To join the workshop email list visit: https://lists.uchicago.edu/web/subscribe/americanpolitics. Individuals with disabilities or those who require special accommodations should contact the coordinators, Jenn M. Jackson (jennjackson@uchicago.edu) and Scott Cooley (cooley@uchicago.edu).

Additional information about the American Politics Workshop can be found on our website: https://voices.uchicago.edu/americanpol/.