Olivia Grantham
Pronouns: She/ Her/Hers
UROP Fellowship: Community College Summer Fellowship Program
Henry Ford College
Research Mentor(s): Michael Heaney, PhD
Institute for Research on Women and Gender
Presentation Date: Tuesday, July 28, 2020 | Session 3 | Presenter: 1
Authors: Olivia Grantham, Ataia Templeton, and Michael T. Heaney
Abstract
Social scientists have long investigated the question of where new policy ideas come from. They have examined a variety of possible origins, including political leaders, policy experts, bureaucrats, mass media, and social movements. The rise of social media has brought about a new dynamic in the emergence of policy ideas. The discussion to “defund the police” provides a recent empirical case. This study examines the factors that contributed to spreading conversations on this topic in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. We examine tweets, news articles, social movement mobilizations, city council deliberations, and interviews with opinion leaders to identify the causes of this diffusion. We find that, in this case, social media interacted with city council actions to play an especially critical role in sparking this discussion.
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Presentation Script
Research Disciplines
Social Sciences
