The Political Consequences of Americanization [Research Assistant]

Professor Harvey Feigenbaum
Department: Political Science
The Project
I am interested in the consequences of America’s dominance of popular culture markets, especially film and television. My hypothesis is that people around the world are becoming more familiar with American culture than their own and that this affects the way they think about politics. People are increasingly likely to think in American political categories (eg: liberal or conservative) rather than the much richer set of options found outside the US (monarchist, nationalist, centrist, socialist, social-democratic, green etc).
Research Assistant Tasks
I would like a student to research different empirical examples of the influence of American culture abroad (parties converging toward American style ideologies, school systems adopting American style education, movies becoming more action-oriented, etc. Some exploration of large N data such as Eurobarometer surveys of political values in the EU.
Time Commitment: 1-3 hours per week
Contact Email: harveyf@gwu.edu
Additional Application Instructions: Students should let me know if they have had courses in the social sciences, if they have statistical skills, and if they can read any foreign languages. Study abroad is also a bonus.