Suchergebnisse

"Shows how autocrats structure interaction between citizens and leaders to manage information dilemmas and build regime legitimacy. Uses interviews, original surveys, and text analysis to highlight the tools used by Russian President Vladimir Putin to reinforce his now twenty-year rule-and how these tools may backfire against the regime"--

Abstract
How do electoral manipulation and resulting anti-fraud protests influence political trust in non-democratic contexts? I leverage the plausibly exogenous variation in the timing of a series of original surveys fielded on nationally representative samples in Russia to understand the impact of political shocks – particularly allegations of electoral fraud and post-election protests – on the evolution of trust in political institutions and individuals. This study demonstrates that allegations of excessive, blatant electoral fraud decrease trust in the autocrat. However, trust rebounds following attendant post-election protests. Finally, I examine the conditional impacts of fraud and protest on trust, finding that updating occurs primarily among those with weak political affiliation.

How do autocrats build support? This study argues that autocrats create and maintain participatory technologies—elite-mass communication strategies that promote two-way interaction between citizens and leaders—to foster support. Participatory technologies provide citizens with the opportunity to have a limited voice in otherwise closed political systems. I test this theory through a series of two nationally-representative survey experiments in Russia. Results suggest that awareness of participatory technologies increases approval of President Putin and improves perceptions that there are opportunities for voice in politics. This finding departs from previous research that suggests public opinion is influenced primarily by participation. Furthermore, I demonstrate that these effects can be directly attributed to the communicative format of these strategies, not to issue resolution or leadership effects. Finally, I demonstrate that effects are dependent upon individuals' political sophistication and political priors, contributing to political polarization and opening up the potential for backlash against the regime.

Abstract
Bridging the divide between research and practice has become a growing concern within international studies. One under-explored avenue through which international studies scholars can enhance their "real world" impact is by serving as country conditions experts in asylum cases. This article provides an overview of the asylum process, the role of country conditions experts within it, and how scholars with in-depth country knowledge can leverage their expertise to make a difference, using examples from the United States and the United Kingdom. It also details several key issues one should consider when deciding whether to undertake expert witness work and the challenges and dilemmas it often entails. Finally, we provide actionable ways for international studies scholars to get involved and expand the community of individuals engaged in expert witnessing.

Abstract
Powerful countries use foreign media broadcasts to enhance their soft power, yet there is scant empirical evidence as to whether such efforts actually sway public opinion abroad. Moreover, researchers have not specified conditions that may shape variations in the influence of foreign broadcasts and internet. We propose a theory that predicts, respectively, opinion-formation and issue-framing effects of foreign broadcasts as functions of the pervasiveness and familiarity of the issues they cover. We test our hypotheses by examining the potential effects of exposure to Russia-sourced broadcasts on views of Russia and other foreign policy issues in Kyrgyzstan, a most likely case of foreign media effects. Using an original, nationally representative survey conducted in Kyrgyzstan in 2015, we find that the influence of Russian media on Kyrgyzstani opinions varies according to the pervasiveness and familiarity of the issues at stake and is more limited than traditionally believed. The modest and conditional effects of foreign media in this particularly favorable environment cast doubt on the assumption that media are a soft-power tool "par excellence" and call for further research on how media can be used effectively for public diplomacy.

Scholars have expressed concern over waning support for democracy worldwide. But what do ordinary citizens mean by the term "democracy," and how do their definitions of democracy influence their support for it? Using global cross-national survey data, this study demonstrates that individual variation in the understanding of democracy is substantively linked to democratic support across countries and regime contexts. Individuals who define democracy in terms of elections and the protection of civil liberties and those with greater conceptual complexity express higher support for democracy. This relationship between democratic conceptualization and support holds across diverse political contexts and alternative explanations. These results suggest that it is essential to consider divergent conceptualizations of democracy—and how they may vary systematically—when analyzing popular opinions of democracy.