Welcome to Attentive Publics by me, SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor. I’m a current PhD student, studying Congress at the University of Maryland. Prior to that I worked in Congress.
When I started my PhD program, datasets and information were treated like a special gift that only academics and consultants could access. But in reality, you shouldn’t (and don’t) need an advanced degree to access and explore data relevant to your daily life.
The goal of this newsletter is to demystify data collection and political processes by showing you step-by-step instructions to find and analyze nonpartisan, public information.
So why Attentive Public? Political scientist Douglas Arnold argued there are two types of Americans: the “attentive” and the “inattentive” publics. “Attentive publics are those citizens who are aware that a specific issue is on the congressional agenda, know what alternatives are under consideration, and have relatively firm preferences about what Congress should do” (Arnold 1990).
He goes on to write that an attentive public is much better at holding elected officials accountable, and thus, elected officials are required to listen to them. But he also notes, in order for an attentive public to be effective, they must have access to information and they must effectively communicate priorities to their representatives.
Fortunately for us, step one can be easy. A lot of information necessary to become an attentive public is already out there–but it’s convoluted and difficult to find. This newsletter and website aims to bridge that gap, so you can find information, explain it, and use it to answer your own questions. Plus, as an added bonus: facts make it a lot easier to win arguments on the internet :)
Have something in particular you’d like answered or discussed? Let me know.
For us to be an attentive (and affective) public we must be armed with information and facts. We have a responsibility to combat misinformation, educate ourselves, and those around us. So let’s get to work. Welcome, and happy exploring!
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