Political Advocacy and American Politics

Sean Richey is Associate Professor of Political Science at Georgia State University. He is also the Director of Georgia State University’s Political Survey Research Lab, which he founded. He researches American politics, with a specialization in elections, voting behavior, public opinion, and quantitative methodology. His research has appeared in several peer-reviewed books and in articles published in academic journals, such as Political Research Quarterly, the British Journal of Political Science, Political Communication, Political Behavior, International Studies Quarterly, and others. He was a Fulbright Fellow from 2013 to 2014 at the University of Tokyo, and he was a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Tokyo between 2004 and 2006.J. Benjamin Taylor is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Kennesaw State University. He teaches and researches American politics with a specialization in elections and voting behavior, political communication, media politics, and public opinion. His research has appeared in two peer-reviewed books and in numerous articles in academic journals, such as Political Communication, Politics and Religion, American Politics Research, PS: Political Science & Politics, and Presidential Studies Quarterly.

• 1. Introduction 2. A Theory of Political Advocacy 3. Why and How People Advocate 4. How Campaigns Stimulate Advocacy 5. Exploring the Role of Social Distance and Social Media 6. The Psychology of Political Advocacy 7. Conclusion

"Richey and Taylor provide a timely contribution to the literature on political discord. Skillfully, they find a way to examine incivility through various types of interpersonal communication to demonstrate why Americans need to continue to continue to discuss and interact over politics. Unquestionably, Political Advocacy and American Politics will become a must-read in political behavior."Shauna Reilly, Professor of Political Science, Director of the Institute for Student Research and Creative Activity, Northern Kentucky University"Political Advocacy and American Politics is a must-read for political behavior scholars. The project is very well researched and sheds new empirical light on a normatively important political behavior that scholars of politics often overlook."Jeffrey M. Glas, Lecturer of Political Science, School of Public and International Affairs, University of Georgia"An important read for anyone wishing to understand today’s turbulent times, the conditions that drive ordinary citizens to forcefully advocate for their political beliefs, and the importance of contentious political talk for American democracy."Stacy Ulbig, Professor of Political Science, Sam Houston State University