Researchers

Benjamin Guinaudeau
Université Laval
Political science
Address: Pavillon Charles-De Koninck, bureau [XXXX], 1030, avenue des Sciences-Humaines, Québec (Québec) G1V 0A6
Research
Benjamin Guinaudeau is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Université Laval. Before that, he was a postdoctoral researcher at New York University's Center for Social Media and Politics. His research focuses on digital political communication and political representation. He studies how platforms, TikTok in particular, shape citizens' exposure to political information: the concentration of attention, the moderation of political content and the role of ad delivery algorithms in election campaigns. He also examines government responsiveness to electoral mandates and the measurement of legislators' ideological positions. Methodologically, he relies on computational methods, including large-scale text and video analysis and machine learning.
Research Axis
  • Axis 2: Practicing Democratic Citizenship - The practice of democratic citizenship is undergoing a multifaceted transition. There are fundamental changes in conceptions of democratic citizenship and in its practice as well as the targets of citizen action. Scepticism about representative democracy as a system of governance is growing and citizens across established democracies are withdrawing from politics. Their perception about the political world is impacted by transformations in the news media practices and by online content, including social media. Voting and party politics have been the basis of conventional interpretations of citizenship, but there is ample evidence that this conception is much too limited. New forms of communication are providing citizens with novel ways to gather information and to engage in politics.
  • Axis 3: Representing and Governing Citizens - After learning and practicing democratic citizenship, the next critical steps are representation and governance. Democratic institutions are key elements. They shape the norms and incentives for active citizenship and they link citizens and their representatives in ways that foster accountability, legitimacy and representation. In Québec and Canada, as well as in other countries, confidence of citizens toward the institutions is low, as many dislike the way that members of parliaments behave and consider that politicians don’t honour their promises, hence various political endeavours to reform these institutions. Research on this axis will focus on the role of electoral systems, parliaments, parliamentary debates, and political parties.
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