call for proposals
The SNF Ithaca Initiative is accepting proposals for SNF Ithaca Research Scholars. Scholars conduct research at the intersection of public policy and/or public administration with one or more of the SNF Ithaca pillars: civil discourse, civic engagement, and/or the role of media in democracy.
The research can encompass innovative, empirical, or emerging scholarship in these areas.
SNF Ithaca Research Scholars receive a $5,000 award, are expected to produce a 15–20-page white paper and will have the opportunity to present the research at the Biden School.
- Civil discourse and regulation of media
- Voting rules and civic engagement
- Racially polarized voting
- The impact of civic education on youth voter turnout
- Regulation of social media
- Public institutions and partisanship
- Deliberative democracy and citizen participation.
Applications open to:
- Faculty
- Research academics
- Doctoral students
Applications must include each of the following:
- A current CV.
- A short description (up to 500 words) describing the proposed research topic, methods, and significance.
- Contact information for at least two professional references. Candidates are encouraged to include a writing sample (previously written) that they feel demonstrates their ability to write in a policy-relevant style.
All necessary application materials should be sent to Dr. Timothy J. Shaffer at snfithaca@udel.edu with the subject “SNF Ithaca Research Scholars application.”
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
SNF Ithaca Research Scholar White PaperS
Anti-democratic movements are surging around the world, threatening to undermine elections and replace them with oligarchy. While pro-democracy movements focus on defending elections, most people think that elections alone are inadequate. How can we renew democracy and move beyond its current limitations?
For over 5,000 years, we have built up competing waves of electoral, direct, deliberative, and participatory democracy. We are now seeing a transition, however, from waves to ecosystems. While in the past, we have built up competing waves of democracy, the next stage of democratic innovation connects different practices into balanced ecosystems.
Presented: Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Speakers included:
Timothy Shaffer, SNF Ithaca Director and Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Chair of Civil Discourse, Biden School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Delaware (Moderator)
Josh Lerner, Co-Executive Director, People Powered
Carla Bezerra, Director of Digital Participation and Network Communication, Presidency of the Republic of Brazil
Sarah Lister, Head of Governance, United Nations Development Programme
Graham Smith, Professor of Politics, Centre for the Study of Democracy in the School of Social Sciences, University of Westminster
Celina Su, Inaugural Marilyn J. Gittell Chair in Urban Studies at the Graduate Center, City University of New York
This white paper documents how social media, especially Meta, contributes to the decline of local journalism. It highlights the lack of financial transparency, allowing tech companies to promote their investments in local news without accountability. The paper proposes a digital advertising tax (DAT) on social media ads targeting users based on online data. The revenue would fund robust independent journalism through a non-profit consortium of local news organizations, researchers, non-profits, and funding entities.
As journalism scholar Victor Pickard notes, "the journalism crisis is a policy problem." This paper outlines a policy approach to addressing it.
This white paper details the results of a pilot study and a randomized controlled trial that investigated the possibility that engaging in a structured conversation with someone of differing political views can increase students’ willingness to express their views on controversial topics and improve students’ attitudes toward individuals who do not share their views.
The key contentions of this white paper are: (1) that the FEC’s regulatory responsibility to distinguish between legitimate press entities and functions, on the one hand, and political influence operations on the other is an increasingly important mechanism by which the federal government can help news consumers navigate a news and information ecosystem in which identifying legitimate news sources has become much more challenging; and (2) that the FEC should employ a more precise and rigorous assessment process in making its determinations: one that leverages the broader range of analytic and digital forensic tools available to it for evaluating both whether entities merit classification as “press entities” and whether the activities in which an entity engages represent legitimate press functions.
