IDEA Research Spotlight: Dr. Ryan Kennedy
When Competition Becomes Demonization
What keeps a democracy researcher up at night? For Dr. Ryan Kennedy, IDEA research expert, it's this:
"How competition has quickly turned into mutual demonization between political actors in modern democracies."
Dr. Kennedy studies how we measure what people think—and what most people get completely wrong about public opinion. His answer:
"There's a longstanding belief that you can just swap a word with a synonym to get people to agree or disagree with a policy. This is trivially true, replacing 'cutting welfare' with 'welfare reform' or 'welfare' with 'aid to the poor' will change the answers many people will give. The problem is that it is not changing their mind about a policy, it is causing them to picture an entirely different policy."
One of the most surprising discoveries from his research?
"I was really surprised by just how often questions that seem straightforward when you initially look at them are anything but when you actually start asking them of real people."
So when does democracy work best?
"There is a balance between competition and respect. There must be competition in a democracy, but it cannot be so heated that competitors fail to abide by the rule that, in a democracy, you must be willing to rule and to be ruled in turn."
One book that shaped how he sees the world: The Art of the Impossible, a collection of speeches by Vaclav Havel.
Did you know? Outside the classroom, Dr. Kennedy recharges with CrossFit workouts 4-6 times a week.
And his last opinion change? His son convinced him to hike in freezing cold weather. "Kids will change your mind real quick about a lot of things."
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