Democracy and Information Group
Exploring the impact of political communication and other forms of information on civil society, with an emphasis on the impact of new media on polarization and incivility
The Democracy and Information Group (DIG) explores the impact of political communication and other forms of information on civil society. In researching these questions, we bring insights from political behavior, political communication, and political psychology and tools from across the social sciences, including experiments, survey research, network analyses, and computational social science. Recent projects from DIG members examine whether search engines are biased against local news, the roots of polarization, and whether social media platforms can be redesigned to promote higher quality political discussions.
DIG meets every two weeks, and if you're a Penn graduate student interested in these topics and joining the conversation, please contact Professor Yphtach Lelkes.
Photo Credit (top image): RoBird / Shutterstock
Policing the Digital Divide: How Racial Bias Can Limit Internet Access for People of Color
New research shows that the policing of nonviolent offenses, like loitering, restricts access to free WiFi, particularly for people of color.
Joint Doctoral Student Tyler Leigh Studies the Impact of Social Media on Politics
DIG on Video
Yphtach Lelkes explains why probabilistic political polling is misleading to the public, and can even swing the results of an election.
Lelkes explains the history and growth of affective polarization - the degree to which Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. don't just disagree on policy, but actually dislike one another as groups.