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I am an Assistant Professor in the College of Arts and Letters and Director of the Diplomacy Lab at
Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. I specialize in American politics,
specifically strategic political communication, congressional politics, veterans politics,
and women in politics. The majority of my research relies on an originally collected dataset of
all official e-newsletters hosted at DCinbox.
I recently authored a book, Congress and U.S. Veterans: From the GI Bill to the VA Crisis,
that includes content from nearly 20,000 e-newsletters sent from Congress members to constituents to demonstrate the differences
in how members of Congress discuss versus legislate on veterans' issues.
Education
Ph.D., Political Science, New York University, 2014
Committee: Sanford Gordon, Jonathan Nagler, Howard Rosenthal
Dissertation: "Legislator Controlled Information Revelation in Constituent Communications"
M.A., Political Science, New York University, 2010
B.A., Political Science, University of Kansas, 2007
Research
Publications
Leveraging Peer-to-Peer Connections to Increase Voter Participation in Local Elections", 2019
Politics & Policy
"Congress and U.S. Veterans: From the GI Bill to the VA Crisis", 2018
Praeger
"Preface to Today's Environmental Issues: Democrats and Republicans", 2017
Edited by Teri J. Walker, ABC-CLIO
"Google Search Keywords That Best Predict Energy Price Volatility. (with Mohamad Afkhami and Hamed Ghoddusi)", 2017
Energy Economics
"DCinbox
Capturing Every Congressional Constituent E-newsletter from 2009 Onwards", 2017
The Legislative Scholar
"Gender and
vote revelation strategy in the United States Congress", 2016
Journal of Gender Studies
"Extremity in
Congress: Communications versus Votes", 2016
Legislative Studies Quarterly
"Congressional
e-newsletters reveal range of views on Iran deal", The Hill September 22, 2015
"The
Ebola outbreak generated greater response from Republican lawmakers", The Washington Post November 14, 2014
Working Papers and Book Project
"The Company You Keep: The Name-Dropping Networks of Congress"
ABSTRACT , PDF
The internal interpersonal networks of Congress undoubtedly form
important pathways for policy formulation and adoption. While the
discipline has decades of analyses of legislative co-sponsorship
networks, other measures of Congressional networks have been the subject
of fewer studies. The recent emergence and quick adoption of
e-newsletters has transformed the way legislators attempt to influence
constituents and in turn allows scholars richer insights into the
contours of Congressional networks and how members portray themselves
and others in constituent communications. This paper adds to the
current understanding political actor networks and strategic
legislator-to-constituent communications by presenting the first
quantitative mapping of Congressional actor networks legislators present
to constituents. Using on the strategy of ''name-dropping'' as a signal
of legislator connectedness, we find that legislators focus mostly on
other legislators from their own states, within their own chamber,
co-partisans, and leaders. We also find some communities based on
legislator race, but not gender. .
"Book Project: Congressional Communications in the Era of Presidential Contempt"
ABSTRACT , PDF
Inter-branch animosity existed before the widespread adoption of the
Internet yet we are now in an age of legislator-to-constituent
communications increasingly dominated by insults. This fractious
behavior seems unlikely to subside as our system moves into
ever-increasing cycles of polarization. As the first book to identify
and explain this practice, Congressional Communications in the Era of
Presidential Contempt will provide insights for political scientists and
the wider public alike in the years to come.
From 2009-2016, 78,969 online communications were sent to constituents;
66% of these were from Republicans and of all communications that make
reference to President Obama, 78% were from Republicans. While claims of
liberal bias in mainstream print and television media grow increasingly
frequent, conservatives dominate the medium of direct
Congress-to-constituent e-newsletter.
Members of Congress have the ability to send mass mail to their
constituents free of charge. With the rise of the internet, legislators
have moved away from sending traditional, franked postal mail to mass
electronic newsletters "e-newsletters" to update their constituents on
the work done on their behalf in Washington D.C. These e-newsletters
allow members to craft a direct, positive and virtually unmediated
presentation of themselves to constituents, as well as a negative and
unmediated view of people and policies they oppose.
E-newsletters are rarely covered by other media outlets, all but ignored
in academic efforts, and yet they play an important role in
understanding the rise of Congressional Republicans in the elections of
2010 onwards, as well as the subsequent election of Republican
candidate, Donald Trump. In this book I provide an analysis of the
comparative usage of e-newsletters by political party, identify and
examine the rise of anti-Obama tropes and terms, and argue that this
often overlooked connection between members of Congress and constituents
has far reaching implications for democracy within the United States.
The ways individual members of Congress discuss the political process,
policy debates, and pivotal actors such as the President sets the tone
for further coverage and, in turn, citizen perceptions.
.
Research Interests
American Politics, Congress, Political Communication, Veterans Politics,
Women in Politics, Text Analysis, Public Opinion, Political Polarization,
Representation, Public Policy
Conference Presentations
"The Name Dropping Connections of Congress,"
PDF
SPSA Annual Meeting, 2017.
"The Anti-Obama Congress: Official Communications,"
PDF
SPSA Annual Meeting, 2016.
"Sins of Omission: Legislator (Mis)Representation in Constituent Communications,"
ABSTRACT , PDF
APSA Annual Meeting, 2013.
"Strategic Position Revelation in the US Congress: How Legislators
Communicate Vote Choice to Constituents," MPSA Annual Meeting, 2013.
"Communicated Ideal Points Via Vote Revelation in Congress," APSA Annual
Meeting, August 2012.
"Speak to Me: Do Members of Congress Communicate to Their Constituents with
Ideological Language?," MPSA Annual Meeting, 2011.
"Comparing Opinions and Preferences Across States and Regions: The Fallacy
of Using Ideological Responses," with Jonathan Nagler APSA Annual National Conference, 2010
"Comparing Opinions and Preferences Across States and Regions: The Fallacy
of Using Ideological Responses," MPSA Annual National Conference, 2010
Teaching
U.S. Congress, Stevens Institute of Technology Fall 2017
Introduction to Political Science I: National Government, Stevens Institute of Technology Fall 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Special Topics: Women in Politics, Stevens Institute of Technology Spring 2017
Pinnacle Scholars Seminar I: Global Security, Stevens Institute of Technology Fall 2015
U.S. Foreign Policy, Stevens Institute of Technology Fall 2015
Foundations in Technology & Policy, (Graduate) Stevens Institute of Technology Spring 2015, 2016
Public Policy Analysis, Stevens Institute of Technology Spring 2015
Introduction to Political Science II: Judicial Process, Stevens Institute of Technology Spring 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Modern US Presidency and the Legislative Process, Stevens Institute of Technology, Fall 2014
Introduction to American Politics, Yeshiva University, Spring 2014
The Teachable Art of Governing, Adjunct with Governor David Paterson, New York University, Fall 2011
Power and Politics, Teaching Assistant, New York University, Fall 2010
Earlier teaching
Debate and Argumentation, Instructor, Capitol Debate, 2007-2008
Debate and Argumentation, Instructor, University of Kansas, Summer 2007
Debate and Argumentation, Instructor, Blue Valley North High School, 2005-2007
Work Experience
Visiting Assistant Professor, Stevens Institute of Technology, 2014-2015
Adjunct Professor, Yeshiva University 2014
Research Assistant to Governor David Paterson, Spring-Summer 2011
Research Assistant to Jonathan Nagler, 2009, 2010
Lindsey Cormack
College of Arts and Letters
Stevens Institute of Technology
Castle Point on Hudson
Hoboken NJ 07030-5991
Office: Morton 318
Email: lcormack@stevens.edu
Web: lindseycormack.com
References
Sanford Gordon
Professor, Department of Politics, New York University
Email: sanford.gordon@nyu.edu ; Tel: +1 212 998 3708
Jonathan Nagler
Professor, Department of Politics, New York University
Email: jonathan.nagler@nyu.edu; Tel: +1 212 992 9676
Howard Rosenthal
Professor, Department of Politics, New York University
Email: howardrosenthal@nyu.edu; Tel: +1 212 998 8512
Patrick Egan
Assistant Professor, Department of Politics, New York University
Email: pat.egan@nyu.edu; Tel: +1 212 992 8078
Anna Harvey
Associate Professor, Department of Politics, New York University
Email: anna.harvey@nyu.edu; Tel: +1 212 998 3709
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