2017/08/08 by James N. Druckman, James Druckman, Matthew Levendusky +2 · 295 citations
Physics and Astronomy · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Advertising #Business #Economics #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Face (sociological concept) #Interpersonal communication #Law #Media coverage #Media studies #Microeconomics #Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence #Polarization (electrochemistry) #Political science #Politics #Preference #Psychology #Public opinion #Public relations #Social Media and Politics #Social psychology #Social science #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1111/ajps.12325
published in American Journal of Political Science 62(1), 99-112 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2017/08/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Abstract To what extent do partisan media sources shape public opinion? On its face, it would appear that the impact of partisan media is limited, given that it attracts a relatively small audience. We argue, however, that its influence may extend beyond its direct audience via a two‐step communication flow. Specifically, those who watch and are impacted by partisan media outlets talk to and persuade others who did not watch. We present experimental results that demonstrate this process. We therefore show that previous studies may have significantly underestimated the effect of these outlets. We also illustrate that how the two‐step communication flow works is contingent upon the precise composition of the discussion group (e.g., is it consistent of all fellow partisans or a mix of partisans?). We conclude by highlighting what our results imply about the study of media, preference formation, and partisan polarization.