Leaked emails and American political knowledge

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: In academia and in popular discourse, leaks have long been associated with transparency, while their potential as a source for disinformation has gone largely unexamined. The turmoil of the 2016 U.S. presidential election cast doubt on this association by demonstrating the potentially disorienting impact of leaked emails on political knowledge. Nonetheless, the dynamics of this disruption remain little understood. Through an online experiment, I find that individuals perceive leaked emails as generally more credible than other forms of anonymously sourced political information. I contextualize this finding within the general understanding that leaks are just as pliable to the spread of doubt and misinformation as they are to the cause of transparency. Looking ahead, disclosures similar to the 2016 leaks are likely to figure prominently in American politics, particularly in the context of future elections. Whether these future leaks are committed in the name of transparency or disinformation, their impact on democratic practice will ultimately be determined by the reaction of their audience — journalists, politicians, and voters — who must decide whether or to what extent their contents can be trusted.

Type of resource	text
Date created	May 2018

Author	Sorensen, Benjamin
Advisor	Bonica, Adam
Degree granting institution	Stanford University, Fisher Family Honors Program in Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law

Subject	leaked emails
Subject	disinformation
Subject	wikileaks
Subject	hack
Subject	democracy
Subject	political knowledge
Subject	podesta emails
Subject	misinformation
Subject	political communication
Subject	center for democracy development and the rule of law
Subject	cddrl
Subject	fisher honors program
Genre	Thesis

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/rj831hh5786

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License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY).

Preferred Citation: Sorensen, Benjamin. (2018). Leaked emails and American political knowledge. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/rj831hh5786

Stanford University, Fisher Family Honors Program in Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. (CDDRL)

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