• Principal Investigator Prof. Holli A. Semetko, Emory University
• Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Taberez A. Neyazi, Centre for Culture Media & Governance, Jamia Millia Islamia

Abstract

India’s 2014 General Election represents the beginning of a new phase in campaigning in the country, with TV, the press and the internet together providing more opportunities than ever before for citizens, interest groups, political parties, candidates and leaders to connect. This proposed research will use multiple methods, contexts, and sources of data to address questions and hypotheses about influence and identity. The research design focuses on the uses and impacts of networks, social and traditional media on citizens’ perceptions of issues, candidates, parties and leaders, and their campaign and voting behaviors. A two-wave panel study in Delhi and a cross-sectional post-election survey in Bangalore--two metropolitan cities where the internet users are estimated to be at nearly 40 percent (IAMAI 2013)—along with content analysis of various media and sentiment analysis of social media will be conducted. The panel study will permit us to assess stability and change over the course of the campaign at the individual-level in the dynamic arena of the capital city in which a high proportion of voters remained undecided at the start of the 2013 Assembly election campaign based on an earlier study conducted at the Centre.