David Strömberg on the American political process

Dr David Strömberg has his eye on America. The recipient of one of the European Research Council's (ERC) prestigious “Starting Independent Research" grants, Strömberg is investigating how American politicians act depending on the amount of media coverage they receive.

Based at Stockholm University’s Institute for International Economic Studies (IIES), Dr Strömberg is one of just seven Swedish researchers to receive the first round of “Starting Independent Research” grants, which provide funds for five years of research. These highly competitive grants are designed to boost the careers of outstanding young researchers as they set about establishing themselves as independent research leaders in their field.

“The money from the ERC means an immense amount to me,” says Strömberg, who has previously conducted research into natural disasters as well as the American presidential race. “Research takes time and this grant will allow me to collate plenty of material.”

Strömberg’s project involves examining how politicians act depending on the way local media market view them. “I’m very interested in the way increasingly larger media markets mean that some politicians, particularly those involved in local government, operate outside the sphere of the media. Specifically, I want to examine what ramifications this has for the political process. How does this effect the way politicians act, the decisions they make and the policies they form?”

The political effects of media coverage have proved difficult to study, according to Strömberg, as the political areas, questions and politicians covered are so different to those that aren’t covered. “Part of my research will involve ascertaining whether the differences between these areas is because of the media coverage they receive or don’t receive or other underlying differences.”

Funded by the EU and based at Stockholm University, Strömberg’s research has a strong international perspective. “The main focus of my project is the American congress elections,” says Strömberg, who is undertaking the project with a colleague from MIT in Boston.

“The reason we’ve chosen the US congressional elections is that there is a wide variety of data available. In the US there are a variety of media markets covering a wide selection of political areas. Some papers cover their congress members much more closely than others.”

“We’ll be looking at the statistics concerning the media markets, newspaper publications, and voting patterns, amongst other things. We’ll also be looking at the work of members of congress. Do members that come from districts well covered by the media work in a more engaged manner for their voters than those that don’t? And do politicians vote according to what their voters want or are they just looking to further their careers?”

Even though America is the focus of this study, Strömberg believes there are important lessons to be learned from this research when it comes to Europe and Scandinavia. “Politicians based at the European parliament work under different pressures compared to, say, national politicians in Sweden. By understanding the way the media effects the political process even in America, we’ll gain more insight into the power relationships that exist between the media and political processes in Europe.”

Dr David Strömberg’s project is funded by the European Research Council until 2012.

Interview and text: Jon Buscall.
David Strömberg CV and webpage: www.iies.su.se/~stromber/