We analyze the effects of different transparency regulations on political actors using surveys and survey experiments. We focus on the following research questions: 1) What are the effects of lobbying laws on the behaviour of lobbyists? 2) What is the effect freedom of information laws and open data regulations on trust in government and perceptions of corruption?
Emotional framing of climate change-related issues in communication may increase concern with climate change and motivate individual and collective actions aimed at adapting to or mitigating its effects of climate change. But do different emotional frames in news stories also influence support for specific policies aimed to address climate change? In this project, we use survey experiments to test the effects of various emotional frames on support for different adaptation and mitigation policies.
Religious Groups and Democratic Norm Endorsement
Religious group involvement is associated with pro-democratic orientations in some instances, but not in others. This project will investigate the role of institutional factors, organizational/group level dynamics within the religious communities, and the role of religious leadership to explain why religious engagement and religious identities are sometimes associated with democratic orientations and under what conditions they are associated with anti-democratic attitudes.