Research in Progress

Forthcoming:

There is a vast and growing literature that explores and often decries political polarization. Writers across the political spectrum have documented the growth and unwanted consequences of today’s polarization. Partisanship and the Political Imagination joins this discussion and suggests that partisanship is a necessary and often positive characteristic of democratic deliberation provided it does not get stuck in an unimaginative and (for lack of a better description) lazy way of approaching our current policy issues. The best way out of this lazy partisanship is to develop the capacity to understand one’s opponent’s worldview. Put another way, we must better imagine ourselves in our political opponent's position if we want partisanship to aid (rather than hinder) the development of good policy. While most scholars agree with this approach, most make this case by appealing to scientific rigor and a newfound respect for facts. In reality, empathy and imagination often respond better to narratives and stories. Therefore, Partisanship and the Political Imagination makes its case through historical narrative, showing why and when our contemporary political ideologies emerged and how they make sense to those who hold them.

While scholars have shown that extreme partisanship corrodes civic trust and creates gridlock in the policy process, my approach goes a step further in arguing that a lack of imagination prevents new and creative policy from ever coming under consideration. The same imaginative faculty that allows me to imagine myself in another person's shoes can lead me to policy positions never considered before by me or my opponent. Imagination is a creative act that not only generate more civility in our discourse but also generates policy solutions that go beyond that discourse. Lazy partisanship, therefore, has a double-negative consequence. Not only does it blind us to the good arguments made by our opponents, but it also stunts our capacity to creatively solve the problems that face us.

Along with Spencer Stewart at Purdue University, I am writing an article about the content of LDS Sacrament Meeting talks over the last few years. Spencer has built a corpus of transcripts from Sacrament Meetings from more than 1,000 wards across the U.S., Canada, and England from 2021 until now. We are exploring whether a ward’s location affects the subjects discussed in church, the way topics are framed, or the moral content of the messages delivered over the pulpit.

Of late, I have become increasingly involved in Digital History projects and, specifically, the tech used in Natural Language Processing. This approach asks computers to make sense of large corpora, finding patterns and historical transitions that would be difficult for the unaided historian to find. Currently, I am partnering with other scholars (including undergraduates at BYU) to generate new research by using the following corpora:

Projects at an Early Stage:

I continue to work on projects related to congressional language and General Conference talks. Meantime, we have just obtained the movie and television database that has information (including plot summaries) of over 300,000 films and close to 1,000,000 million television episodes.

How to get Involved

If you are interested in any of these research projects please contact me (see the “Contact” tab above). There is always room for partnerships and shared research on these topics.