B.J. University of Texas at Austin
M.A. University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin

For more information on Danny's courses and research visit:

http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/dwhayes

Courses:

Recent Publications:

Forthcoming. “Party Reputations, Journalistic Expectations: How Issue Ownership Influences Election News.” Political Communication.

2008. “Does the Messenger Matter? Candidate-Media Agenda Convergence and Its Effect on Voter Issue Salience.” Political Research Quarterly. Forthcoming.

2008. “Toward a One-Party South?” American Politics Research 36(1): 3-32. (with Seth C. McKee)

2005. “Candidate Qualities through a Partisan Lens: A Theory of Trait Ownership.” American Journal of Political Science 49(4): 908-923.

2005. “Voter Turnout in the California Recall: Where Did the Increase Come from?” American Politics Research 33(2): 187-215. (with Brian K. Arbour)

Research Interests:

My research in American politics focuses on the linkages between elite communications and mass political behavior, particularly in elections. As a former journalist, I am especially interested in the relationship between the media and politicians, and the influence of news coverage on citizen attitudes and behavior. I am also interested in the factors that shape voters’ perceptions of presidential candidates’ personality traits.
 

Current Research Projects:

I am currently working on a project, partially funded by a National Science Foundation grant, that examines news coverage of issues during election campaigns and its influence on public opinion. Specifically, I explore the circumstances under which the media do, and do not, reflect candidates’ issue emphases—that is, the factors that make it more or less likely that journalists will pass along to the public what candidates actually say on the campaign trail. Also, I show that media coverage is more favorable to candidates when they talk about issues their party is perceived to “own”—national security for Republicans, for example, and social welfare for Democrats—than when they campaign on their opponent’s issue territory. Finally, using a series of laboratory experiments, I examine the effects of news coverage and candidate communications on the importance citizens ascribe to different political issues, something that can have important consequences for voting behavior.