Power in Ideas

Abstract

This Element argues that understanding media and democracy in troubled times requires an analytical framework that takes seriously the role of ideas in political life and communication. We develop a framework for analyzing ideas and argue that the empirical study of ideas should combine interpretive approaches to derive meaning and understand influence with quantitative analysis to help determine the reach, spread, and impact of ideas. We illustrate our approach through three case studies: the idea of reparations in Ta-Nehisi Coates's 'The Case for Reparations,' the idea of free expression in Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook policy speech at Georgetown, and Andrew Yang's idea of the “Freedom Dividend” as a form of universal basic income. We trace the landscapes and spheres within which these ideas emerged and were articulated within, the ways they were encoded in discourse, the fields they travelled across, and how they became powerful.