Scott Althaus
Education: Ph.D.,
Northwestern University
Research Interests: Political communication;
public opinion; construction of news texts; opinion surveys and political
behavior as channels for mass communication; political campaigns; political
impact of “new media” and Internet technologies; communication
concepts in democratic theory; quantitative analysis of political discourse.
Current Research: Professor Althaus is
continuing his research on information effects in collective preferences
by focusing on environmental and social factors that influence the ways
citizens acquire and use political knowledge. One project in this line
of research will study how the acquisition and use of political knowledge is
influenced by local variations in the intensity of political campaigning.
Professor Althaus is also pursuing another series of studies with collaborators
Peter Nardulli and Daron Shaw that investigate the targeting strategies
and effects of spot advertising and candidate appearances in presidential
elections from 1952 to the present. He is also working on a book manuscript
that examines the cycle of public deliberation in times of war. Focusing on the 1990-1
Persian Gulf Crisis and the 2003 Iraq War, this project examines the impact of presidential
spin strategies on news discourse about the need to go to war
against Iraq, the impact of that news discourse on public opinion about
the need to go to war, and the impact of that public opinion on presidential
spin strategies and subsequent news coverage.
Representative Recent Publications:
Althaus, S., and Largio, D. (2004). When Osama Became Saddam: Origins
and Consequences of the Change in America’s Public Enemy #1. PS: Political Science & Politics,
37(4).
Althaus, Scott. 2003. When News Norms Collide, Follow the Lead: New Evidence
for Press Independence. Political Communication 20(4): 381-414.
Althaus, S. (2003). Collective Preferences in Democratic
Politics: Opinion Surveys and the Will of the People. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
Althaus, S. (2003). When News Norms Collide, Follow the
Lede: New Evidence for Press Independence.Political Communication
20(3).
Althaus, S. (2002). American News Consumption during Times
of National Crisis. PS: Political Science & Politics, 35(3),
517-521. Reprinted in Principles and Politics of American Politics:
Classic and Contemporary Readings, 2nd ed. Samuel Kernell and Steven
Smith, eds. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly.
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