In a February 2025 televised interview with CBS Evening News, CCPP Director Erik C. Nisbet, Owen L. Coon Professor of Policy Analysis and Communication at Northwestern University, analyzed a familiar Republican communication strategy: framing opposition to federal programs around claims of fraud, waste, and abuse. At the time, Nisbet explained how the heavy repetition of
Category: Network Democracy
A recent WGN Investigates segment, “It’s Not Just National Political Figures Facing Fury — Local Leaders Also Under Threat,” featured insights from Erik Nisbet, Director of CCPP and Owen L. Coon Professor of Policy Analysis & Communication at Northwestern University. The news segment examines the growing number of threats, intimidation, and harassment targeting local officials
CCPP Graduate Affiliate Chloe Mortenson and CCPP Director Erik C. Nisbet recently had their co-authored article, “Benefit-Seekers or Principle-Holders? Experimental Evidence on Americans’ Democratic Trade-Offs,” accepted for publication in Perspectives on Politics. Their study investigates how Americans navigate trade-offs between core democratic principles, such as political equality, rule of law, and freedom of expression, and
CCPP Undergraduate Affiliate Paige Galperin recently presented findings from her summer research project, “From Bark to Bite: The Link Between Political Discussion Network Composition and Support for Partisan Violence,” at Northwestern University’s Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) Research Symposium on August 7th. Drawing on data from CCPP’s 2024 National Post-Election Survey, Paige examined how the
On May 18th at the 78th annual conference of the World Association of Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) in St. Louis, MO, CCPP Director Erik Nisbet gave an invited keynote speech on the topic of “The Emergence of the ‘Illiberal’ Voter? Comparative Analysis of American and Global Elections 2016–2024.” Drawing upon multiple U.S. election surveys conducted