New research shows that a person’s ideological leaning might affect what videos YouTube’s algorithms recommend to them. For right-leaning users, video recommendations are more likely to come from channels that share political extremism, conspiracy theories and otherwise problematic content.
In this article in The Conversation, Mark Reiff, a research affiliate in legal and political philosophy in the College of Letters and Science, details the history and dangers of violent language in politics.
Using his knowledge of sports and politics, UC Davis political scientist Ethan Scheiner wrote,
"Freedom to Win," which recounts the story of a group of hockey players from a small
Czechoslovak town who inspired their country by defeating the Soviet team at the
1969 world championships.
While social media platforms are the primary source of political information for a growing number of people, a majority of Twitter users do not follow either members of Congress, their president or news media, a new study suggests.
It took decades of fighting for women in the United States to win the right to vote. Today, more women than ever are turning out for elections, running for office and influencing public policy at the ballot box.
But the fight isn’t over, says UC Davis historian Lisa Materson, who studies women’s political history. Some women remain disfranchised. And we are seeing efforts across the nation to make voting harder.
Political scientist Edmond Costantini traced his keen interest in politics and current events to a decade he spent as a youth delivering newspapers in Manhattan in New York, where his customers included future President Dwight D. Eisenhower and activist Eugene Debs. Costantini, who died Jan. 10 in Davis at age 89, would later become a sought-after news source himself for his expertise on California elections and politics.
On the first episode of "The Backdrop," a UC Davis podcast exploring the world of ideas, historian Kathryn Olmsted discusses her work studying the history and impact of conspiracy theories on American society and politics. She also offers advice on how people can avoid falling prey to them.
Research by a UC Davis communication professor and colleagues finds that research shows that people who support President Donald Trump have lower trust in societal institutions, when compared with supporters of leading Democratic candidates Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden.
Political analyst Bradford Kane (B.A., international relations, ’81) wrote "Pitchfork Populism: Ten Political Forces That Shaped an Election and Continue to Change America" (Prometheus Books, October 2019). Since the book’s release, he has been interviewed on C-SPAN programs. Kane is the founding director of the Bipartisan Bridge, an initiative to advance cooperation across political parties.
With California Sen. Kamala Harris out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, UC Davis communication professor Magdalena Wojcieszak and colleagues investigated who her supporters are likely to vote for.