Tom Etienne Awarded 2026 Penn Global Dissertation Grant
Etienne studies the role of ideology in public opinion on security topics, with a focus on political linkages between Europe and the United States.
Annenberg School doctoral candidate Tom Etienne is one of the 13 awardees of the 2026 Penn Global Dissertation Grants program.
His project, “A New Face of Interdependence: How the Global Reach of U.S. Domestic Politics Builds Foreign Audiences’ Attachments to American Political Elites,” examines how U.S. domestic politics shapes public opinion abroad.
“People around the world follow American politics closely, and I argue that many develop attachments to American political leaders similar to the ones they hold toward their own politicians,” he explains. “I study what these attachments look like, how they form, and whether they give American politicians the ability to influence political attitudes beyond U.S. borders.”
Launched in 2023, the program supports Ph.D. students conducting international fieldwork and research. Etienne will use the grant to support data collection outside of the United States.
"The funding will allow me to survey people in several countries to measure whether and how strongly they feel attached to American political leaders, or any other foreign political leaders,” he says. “I will also run experiments testing whether those leaders can move public opinion abroad.”
