Jennifer Oser
Assistant Professor of Politics and Government, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Areas of Expertise:
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About Jennifer
Oser’s research interests include political participation; comparative politics; and linkages between citizen participation and public policy. She has worked as a community organizer and trainer in a variety of organizations in the U.S. and in Israel.
Contributions
When Do Members of the U.S. Congress Respond to Less Privileged Constituents?
Key Findings Brief,
In the News
Opinion: "Online Opportunities for Political Participation in the U.S. Do Not Alleviate Inequalities in Political Participation," Jennifer Oser (with ), London School of Economics and Political Science Blog, 2013.
Publications
"Participation, Online and Otherwise: What's the Difference for Policy Preferences?" (with ). Social Science Quarterly 95, no. 5 (2014): 1259-1277.
Offers an explanation for why voters’ preferences are privileged by policymakers by arguing
that voters are likely to communicate their preferences through additional avenues;
examines this “communication hypothesis” by comparing the policy preferences of different
types of political participators.
"Is Online Participation Distinct from Offline Participation? A Latent Class Analysis of Participation Types and Their Stratification" (with ). Political Research Quarterly 66, no. 1 (2013): 91-100.
Argues that the increased availability of the Internet has led to the emergence of new forms of political participation; examines whether this has led to a reinforcement of stratification patterns or to the political mobilization of new groups in society; analyzes the sociodemographic stratification of the participants, speaking to the mobilization thesis regarding age and gender, but finds that traditional socioeconomic status inequalities are reinforced in online political participation.