2005 E. E. Schattschneider Award

For the best doctoral dissertation completed and accepted in 2003 or 2004 in the field of American government and politics.

Award Committee: Tali Mendelberg, Princeton University, chair; Mark Sawyer, UCLA; and John Wilkerson, University of Washington.

Recipient: Markus Prior, Princeton University

Dissertation: "Post-Broadcast Democracy: How Greater Media Choice Changes Politics"

Dissertation Chair: Shanto Iyengar, Stanford University

Citation: The E.E. Schattsneider Award is given to the best dissertation in the field of American politics. The award committee reviewed 12 dissertations nominated by their home institutions. We were unanimous and enthusiastic in choosing Markus Prior of Princeton University for this year's award. Prior's dissertation, "Post-Broadcast Democracy: How Greater Media Choice Changes Politics," is a study of the effects of media institutions on voters. While there have been many studies of media effects, none has examined in a rigorous way the impact of different media choices on voters and on a political system. This dissertation is both deep and wide, linking the nature of media institutions to aggregate political outcomes such as partisan polarization and turnout levels, all the while paying careful, detailed attention to the individual-level mediating mechanisms at work for voters. The dissertation pays attention to both current media arrangements and to those of the past, providing a rare and welcome historical perspective. At the same time, it analyzes a rich array of experimental and survey data on voters and their viewing and political preferences and behaviors. The results illuminate political problems both longstanding and contemporary. These range from the growing inequality in resources such as political information, to the incumbency advantage in Congress, to the balkanization of American voters, to the levels of citizen participation in democratic politics. Prior shows us how the dramatic increase in media outlets creates welcome opportunities for those who are inclined to use media to obtain information about politics, but also produces more inequality in political voice and more partisan polarization.