Politics and Society
Politics and Society
Our work on Politics and Society focuses on the intersection of digital technologies and political science. We employ advanced computational methods to analyze political attitudes and behavior in digital spaces. This enables us to build on and move beyond traditional social science research methods, testing the relevance of existing theories and developing new models for the digital world. Our primary focus is on the politics of Europe and the European Union, parties and party systems, voting behavior, political participation, and the politics of gender, migration, climate change, and security.
Methods
Quantitative Analysis of Text and Online Behaviour: We use Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods to conduct large-scale text analysis and identify patterns in online political behavior. Working with social media content, party manifestos, news media, and other sources allows us to uncover trends in political trust, polarization, and participation to identify influential political actors, and to test theories of the dynamics of political participation online.
Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Research Designs: Research designs such as conjoint and vignette experiments enable us to test the effects of different conditions and prompts on political attitudes and behavior, and to make causal claims about these relationships. Applying these methods via digital tools among online communities allows us to scale up our research and analyze a variety of contexts quickly and efficiently.
Digital Ethnography: Our approach involves digital ethnography to explore and understand the nuances of online political engagement. By studying the digital footprint left on social media and online forums, we gain insights into the evolving nature of political discourse and the impact of technology on public opinion.
Contact
alexander.hartland (AT) uni-saarland (DOT) de
djamila.jabra (AT) uni-saarland (DOT) de
Relevant Papers
"Is there anything Left?: A Global Analysis on Changes in Engagement with Political Content on Twitter in the Musk Era" - Brahmani Nutakki, Rosa M. Navarrete, Giuseppe Carteny, Ingmar Weber. Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media (2025).
"Social Media, Misinformation, and Attitudes Towards Democracy in Germany During the Covid-19 Pandemic" - Rosa M Navarrete, Christina Eder. German Politics (2024/12/6).
"Quality not quantity: Lobbying institutions and the influence of asylum rights groups" - Alex Hartland. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations (2024/11/21).
"Three sides of the same coin? comparing party positions in VAAs, expert surveys, and manifesto data" - Ferreira da Silva, F., Reiljan, A., Cicchi, L., Trechsel, A. H., & Garzia, D. (2023). Journal of European Public Policy, 30(1), 150–173.
"Algorithmic amplification of politics on Twitter" - Ferenc Huszár, Sofia Ira Ktena, Conor O’Brien, Luca Belli, Andrew Schlaikjer, and Moritz Hardt. 2022. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119, 1 (2022), e2025334119.