Catie Bailard
Assistant Professor of Media and Public Affairs

Phone – (202) 994-5937
E-mail – cbailard@gwu.edu
Office – MPA 430
Office Hours – Wed 2:00pm-4:00pm

Expertise

Comparative studies of information and communication technologies in developing countries; Political effects of new media at home and abroad

Background

Before joining the SMPA faculty in 2009, Catie received her doctorate in political science from UCLA. She graduated with a 3.947 cumulative GPA with concentrations in American Politics, Formal and Quantitative Methods, and International Relations. Throughout Catie's academic career, her research agenda has primarily focused on the intersection of politics and information and communication technologies. This fascination with the effect of media on political behaviors and outcomes began in college as a major in UCLA's Communication Studies Department, a top-ranked undergraduate department, where she graduated cum laude.

It was this experience that inspired Catie's decision to pursue a doctoral degree in political science at UCLA, which provided her with a broad substantive understanding of political science and political communication, as well as rigorous training in methodology. While the majority of early political communication research focused on the television's impact on electoral outcomes in the United States, through her research, Catie seeks to broaden this field by focusing on political outcomes beyond elections, beyond the American borders, and media technologies beyond television.

Catie's approach to research is multi-disciplinary, with a particular preference for merging cutting edge quantitative analyses with randomized experiments; since, in combination, these methods provide a robust and rigorous empirical foundation for studies of media effects.

Catie's primary research focus is the cross-national analysis of the Internet's influence on people’s evaluations and expectations of their governments, particularly focused on individuals’ satisfaction with how democracy functions in their own nations. Extensive quantitative analyses, as well as field experiments that she conducted in Tanzania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, substantiate the Internet's strong, conditional effect on democratic satisfaction. Other recent work includes an analysis of the impact of mobile phones on corruption in Africa (published in Political Communication).

Catie is a fifth-generation Californian and, before moving to the District of Columbia, she was a life-long resident of the Golden State. Born and raised in the San Francisco area, with several years in Los Angeles during her studies, Catie has inherited a strong appreciation for both Southern and Northern California sports teams (much to the chagrin and confusion of most Californians)—while the 49ers and San Francisco Giants are her first loves, she is also a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Selected Works

“A Field Experiment on the Internet’s Effect in an African Election: Savvier Citizens, Disaffected Voters, or Both?” (Forthcoming.) Journal of Communication.

“Chivalry in Campaigns: Do Special Rules Apply when Men Run against Women?” (Under review at Women and Politics.)

"Mobile Phones Diffusion and Corruption in Africa." (2009) Political Communication 26(3): 333-353.

“Testing the Internet’s Effect on Democratic Satisfaction: A Multi-Methodological, Cross-National Approach.” (Forthcoming.) Journal of Information Technology and Politics.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised #ItWillBeOnTheInternet: How the Internet Plants the Seeds of Discontent. (Under review at University of Chicago Press.)