The Politics of Attention

• Department of Economics

In this departmental seminar, Andrea Mattozzi (University of Bologna) will present the paper 'The Politics of Attention.'

We study a model in which political parties can manipulate the importance of specific policy issues. Voters have ideal positions in a multidimensional policy space and give different weights to different issues. Two political parties compete choosing policy positions but also manipulating the weights on each issue. This competition severely alters political interactions. First, it typically increases polarization of voters and policy positions. Under symmetric conditions, each party selects a distinct dimension to align closer with voters and emphasize in electoral campaigns, while maintaining divergent positions on all other dimensions. The model also predicts a newcomer advantage and significant effects from targeted advertising capabilities.

Co-author: Pietro Ortoleva