Jody C Baumgartner

The Daily Show Effect Candidate Evaluations, Efficacy, and American Youth

We test the effects of a popular televised source of political humor for young Americans: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. We find that participants exposed to jokes about George W. Bush and John Kerry on The Daily Show tended to rate both candidates more negatively, even when controlling for partisanship and other demographic variables. Moreover, we find that viewers exhibit more cynicism toward the electoral system and the news media at large. Despite these negative reactions, viewers of The Daily Show reported increased confidence in their ability to understand the complicated world of politics. Our findings are significant in the burgeoning field of research on the effects of “soft news” on the American public. Although research indicates that soft news contributes to democratic citizenship in America by reaching out to the inattentive public, our findings indicate that The Daily Show may have more detrimental effects, driving down support for political institutions and leaders among those already inclined toward nonparticipation.

MyFaceTube Politics

This article examines the political uses of social networking (SN) Web sites by young adults in context of the early stages of the 2008 presidential primary season. Using a survey of over 3,500 18- to 24-year-olds contacted immediately prior to the Iowa caucuses, we illustrate that although SN Web sites are recognized by youth as a possible source of news and that many receive some of their news from these sites, the types of news gathered probably do little to inform them or add to democratic discourse. Moreover, the study shows that in spite of the promise SN sites hold for increasing political interest and participation among a chronically disengaged cohort, users are no more inclined to participate in politics than are users of other media.

A Clash of Civilizations? The Influence of Religion on Public Opinion of U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East

The authors argue in this study that religious beliefs play a significant role in predicting American public opinion on foreign policy issues in the Middle East. Their findings reveal that Evangelical Christians have remained strong supporters of a hawkish foreign policy toward the Middle East, even as overall public support for the Iraq War declines. They also find that Evangelicals are among the strongest supporters of Israel and hold more negative views of Islam than others. These results reinforce the growing importance of the “faith factor” in public opinion and American politics as a whole.

Humor on the Next Frontier

The author reports results of a two-pronged experimental analysis of the influence of online political humor on the attitudes of 18- to 24-year-old college students. First an analysis of the control group of the relationship between online humor viewing habits and political attitudes of youth is presented. Consistent with the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion, online political humor viewership had a negative effect on trust in political institutions and evaluations of President George W. Bush. The author then presents results of the online experiment, measuring the effects of an online first-person parody of Bush starting his second term in office from JibJab.com. The clip had a negative effect on trust in political institutions among members of the experimental group. However, it had a positive effect on evaluations of the presidents evaluations. This is likely because the JibJab clip differs in form from most online humor, functioning as a form of self-deprecating humor.

Jon Stewart Comes to Class: The Learning Effects of America (The Book) in Introduction to American Government Courses

This project posits that incorporating political humor into the classroom can have a positive effect on learning in higher education. Specifically, we present preliminary findings from a quasi-experiment in which a humorous, “mock” textbook titled America (The Book) (Stewart, Karlin, and Javerbaum 2004) was incorporated into Introduction to American Government curricula in conjunction with a standard textbook. Our hypothesis argues that humorous presentations of politics and government can enhance the learning process and increase test scores by way of Matthew Baums (2003a) “gateway” or “incidental by-product” effects. Our empirical findings show no such learning effect. Our qualitative evidence, however, suggests that humor-based teaching is clearly more engaging and interesting for the students.

Internet Political Ads in 2012: Can Humor Mitigate Unintended Effects of Negative Campaigning?

A posttest-only experimental design is used to test the effects of humorous negative video ads from the 2012 presidential campaign on evaluations of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney among young people. Findings show that ads targeting Romney had a negative effect on attitudes toward him. Romney also had his evaluations lowered as the result of respondents viewing third-party ads attacking Obama. This may be consistent with some research that suggests that negative political ads have a “backlash,” or “boomerang” effect on their source. Obama, on the other hand, was largely insulated from both target and source effects. The study suggests first that candidates who decide to “go negative” may not be able to insulate themselves from unintended negative effects by framing their ads in a humorous fashion. Moreover, because the anti-Obama ads were sponsored by a third party, it suggests that the source really might matter in terms of the effects ads have on “their” candidates.

Vice Presidential Selection in the Convention Era: Experience or Electoral Advantage?

This article examines all formally contested major party vice presidential nominations from 1832 through 1928 to test the notion that strategic considerations trumped those of qualification, or experience in public office, in the selection process. Conditional logit demonstrates that parties chose presidential running mates in order to further their electoral goals, and were not necessarily concerned with issues of qualification. In particular, findings show that the electoral consideration of state competitiveness was a significant factor in the selection process. In addition, while other electoral considerations such as state size and regional balance were not significant, descriptive analyses reveal that the candidate pool was overwhelmingly limited to those individuals who came from larger states and who added regional balance to the ticket. Importantly, candidate qualification, as measured by years of political experience, was not significant in the analysis. The research represents the first empirical test of vice presidential selection in the convention era.

Did the “Road to the White House Run Through” Letterman? Chris Christie, Letterman, and Other-Disparaging Versus Self-Deprecating Humor

In this article we present the results of an experiment designed to disentangle the effects late-night talk show viewership have on presidential candidate evaluations. Respondents in one condition viewed a short video clip of David Letterman humorously disparaging New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, thought by many at the time to be considering a run for the presidency in 2016. Those in a second condition saw a short clip of Christie engaging in self-deprecating humor while appearing as a guest on Lettermans program. Compared with respondents in a control condition, those in the other-disparaging humor condition had lower evaluations of Christie and reported a lower likelihood of voting for him in 2016, while those in the self-deprecating humor condition had higher evaluations of him and expressed a greater likelihood of voting for him. The research has practical implications for modern campaigns and also serves to clarify some of the seemingly contradictory findings of earlier political humor effects research.

The Post-Palin Calculus: The 2012 Republican Veepstakes

In this article results are presented from a conditional logit model of vice presidential selection that correctly predicts Mitt Romney selecting Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate in 2012. The model, which correctly predicts 14 of the 20 contested major party vice presidential nominations from 1960 through 2008, suggests that media exposure, political experience, having served in the military, age, and gender/racial/ethnic diversity are significant factors in selecting a vice presidential candidate in the modern era.

Constitutional Design of the Executive: Vice Presidencies in Comparative Perspective

Given the history of the institution in the U.S., it is perhaps not surprising that few democracies have adopted a vice presidency. But, why do any countries have vice presidencies? What, if any, functions do they fulfill? In this paper we examine constitutional provisions for vice presidencies in 29 presidential democracies throughout the world. Specifically, we examine the extent to which the office of the vice presidency fulfills three possible institutional purposes: succession, legislative, or executive functions. Almost all vice presidencies included in our analysis fulfill the role of successor in the event of a presidential vacancy. Of those that have additional duties, most are assigned executive functions, while a few are assigned legislative functions. On the whole, the paper provides empirical evidence that vice presidencies seem to be marginal institutions.