Political Information and Communication Among Citizens: Human Capital in an Election Campaign

民主的成功行使需要充分和有效地利用人力资本。人力资本利用的一个方面是公民在多大程度上利用彼此作为作出政治决策的信息来源和指导。这项研究项目将考察总统竞选期间社会沟通的动态结构，重点关注政治沟通的社会网络的结构和组成，影响这些网络在竞选期间如何变化的因素，以及沟通具有影响力的情况。将在印第安纳波利斯和圣路易斯两个城市地区调查政治沟通模式。访谈将在一年内进行，访谈对象包括受访者和一部分与他们有相同政治观点的人。受访者将接受地理编码，以检查网络的空间位置。媒体对问题和竞选活动的报道也将被编码，以捕捉精英对竞选活动的讨论，作为社交网络的背景。***

The successful exercise of democracy requires the full and effective utilization of human capital. One aspect of human capital utilization is the extent to which citizens use one another as sources of information and guidance in making political decisions. This research project will examine the dynamic structure of social communication during a presidential campaign focusing on the structure and composition of social networks for political communication, the factors affecting how these networks change during the campaign, and the circumstances under which communications are influential. Patterns of political communication will be investigated in two urban areas -- Indianapolis and St. Louis. Interviews will be conducted over a period of one year with respondents and a subset of those with whom they share their political views. Respondents will be geo-coded to examine the spatial location of networks. Media coverage of issues and the campaign will also be coded to capture the elite discussion of the campaign as context for the social networks. * * *