Call for Papers–Special Issue of The International Journal of Public Opinion Research

Whether the outcome is knowledge gains, understanding others’ views, opinion polarization, exposure to news, public expression of preferences, or participation, public opinion dynamics have been linked in past scholarship with informal political conversation. However, previous studies are mostly based on data from one or very few countries (or regions) or at a single point in time. Even those studies including more than one country rarely systematically analyse the differences across countries in a truly comparative fashion. With this special issue, we aim at charting this territory: How do motivations, content, frequency and outcomes of informal political conversations vary across countries, regions, or time, and why? 

This call for papers asks for studies investigating differences across countries, regions, or time which may influence the nature and effects of interpersonal communication on public opinion, such as differences or changes in media systems (e.g., increasing selectivity), social structures (e.g., increasing residential balkanization), or social norms (e.g., politeness or conflict-avoidance). This call is not limited to empirical analyses, but also asks for conceptual and methodological contributions, e.g. how studies across space or time can be improved with respect to interpersonal communication research.

Deadline for full paper submissions is 30 April 2014. The special issue will be published early 2015.