Research

My research focuses on the interaction between political culture, digital media, and public opinion in a comparative context. Substantively, I am interested in the politics of the environment. I also study electoral systems and voting behavior. My doctoral research examined the relationship between political culture, digital media, and protest in East Asia. 

The significant events of 2020 prompted me to shift my focus back to the United States, where I began studying how individuals perceive and interpret the political world, especially within the context of political polarization. 

I am primarily a quantitative scholar, with most of my research involving the use of randomized survey experiments, cutting edge causal inference techniques, and computational methods, though I also use qualitative methods when appropriate. Below is a sample of some representative peer-reviewed publications. 

Select Peer-Reviewed Publications

Jenkins, M. D., & Gomez, D. (2025). Unveiling the Multidimensional Nature of Policy Acceptability: A Cross-national Approach, Policy Studies Journal. DOI: 10.1111/psj.70031

Abstract: Research on mass attitudes toward public policy often centers on preferences, yet the understudied facet of policy acceptability remains pivotal. This study develops and validates a nuanced measure of acceptability that identifies three dimensions: political, affective, and deliberative. Through focus groups and surveys conducted in South Korea and the United States, we demonstrate the robustness and cross-cultural consistency of our proposed measure, proving its applicability across diverse policies and demographic landscapes. Our findings not only affirm the measure's invariance but also uncover intriguing patterns within public opinion, previously overlooked by conventional assessments. This study underscores the rich complexity of policy acceptability, highlighting its pivotal role in shaping public attitudes and presenting promising avenues for nuanced policy analysis. 

Jenkins, M. D., & Gomez, D. (2024). Trump Lies, Truth Dies? Epistemic Crisis and the Effect of False Balance Reporting on Beliefs About Voter Fraud. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 29(2), 417-437. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612221111997

Abstract: Media scholars have long recognized the potential for falsely balanced reporting to distort public opinion, but existing empirical evidence does not support the claim that it unambiguously increases or reinforces misperceptions. In this study, we examine the effect of falsely balanced reporting on perceptions of voter fraud in US elections through original survey experiments conducted before and after the 2020 US presidential election. The results show that exposure to falsely balanced reporting largely decreases belief in voter fraud among Democrats and Republicans low in political knowledge, but only when the reporting is attributed to a pro-partisan news source. The results show that exposure to falsely balanced reporting increases belief in voter fraud among high knowledge Republicans when it is attributed to a pro-partisan news source. These findings suggest that false balance reporting may be less of an epistemic problem than previously considered. However, we also find that all correctives have no effect on Republicans in the post-election period, suggesting that any sort of journalistic intervention is extremely sensitive to political context.

Jenkins, M. D., & Kim, Hannah. (2024). Understanding Feminist Backlash in Industrialized Democracies: The Role of Misogyny in the 2022 Korean Presidential Election. Journal of East Asian Studies. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/jea.2024.11 

Abstract: Despite increasing scholarly attention to feminist backlash, little is known about anti-feminist movements in East Asia. This study examines the 2022 South Korean presidential election campaign, in which the conservative People Power Party (PPP) sought to capitalize on political resistance to the perceived advance of feminism. This embrace of male grievance as a political force was arguably led by former PPP party chairman Lee Jun-seok, leading commenters to argue that support for Lee is rooted in misogyny. We examine this claim empirically by drawing on a novel survey to estimate the association between misogynistic attitudes, measured through devaluation, manipulation, and distrust, and support for Lee. We find that misogynistic attitudes are positively correlated with support for Lee, but not with presidential vote choice. We interpret this as suggesting that the association between misogyny and support for Lee is a manifestation of the desire for symbolic representation. We discuss the implications of how this association can further influence the gender divide in both Korea and beyond and conclude with recommendations for further research.

Jenkins, M. D. (2022). Core vs. Peripheral Coordination: Protest Mobilization through Digital Networks in Japan and South Korea. Comparative Political Studies, 18(1), 5-28. Link: https://kiss.kstudy.com/Detail/Ar?key=3965084

Abstract: According to existing theories of digitally networked collective action, well-connected actors play a central role in protest mobilization. A number of recent studies have challenged this view by showing that peripheral actors may play a more important role in the spread of digitally networked protest. However, case selection has made it difficult to evaluate the scope conditions of peripheral mobilization. This study contributes to the literature by examining the association between peripheral coordination and protest in Japan and South Korea. Drawing on a novel data set containing protest counts and individual-level social media communication across notable periods of protest in Japan and South Korea, this study shows that peripheral communication is positively associated with protest activity in both countries. Contrary to previous research, these results suggest that protest is a complex contagion even in industrialized East Asian democracies. 

Jenkins, M.D. (2021). Bringing the Cross-Pressures Thesis into the Digital Realm: Subjective Social Network Heterogeneity and Online Political Expression. eJournal of eDemocracy and Open Government, 13(1), 144-163. Link: https://doi.org/10.29379/jedem.v13i1.641 

Abstract: Approaches to social network heterogeneity in political communication research tend to focus on the effect of accumulated interactions among individuals with different political views. This line of research has provided a number of rich insights into the nature of the relationship between sociality and political participation. At the same time, this research tradition has been hampered by inconsistent terminology, and it has not been updated to reflect the fact that the experience of engaging with politics through digital media produces a unique subjective experience wherein the user is made to address an imagined audience with a perceived set of characteristics. In this study I aim to accomplish three main objectives. First, I propose an adjustment to the conceptual framework used in the literature. Second, I introduce the concept of subjective social network heterogeneity to describe perceived heterogeneity in the political views of the imagined audience. Third, I investigate the relationship between subjective social network heterogeneity and political expression empirically, through an analysis of original survey data from Japan and South Korea. The results show that differences between the political views of an individual and the perceived political views of the imagined audience depresses political expression on social media in both countries, but that variance in the perceived views of the imagined audience is positively associated with political expression.      

Jenkins, M.D. (2020). Contextualizing the Effect of Digital Protest Appeals on Political Self-Expression: Evidence From a Cross-Case Comparison. International Journal of Communication, 14, 6266-6285. 

Abstract: Do digitally mediated weak-tie appeals to engage in connective action have the same effect everywhere? This study argues that the effect of weak-tie action appeals is contingent on citizenship norms and corresponding social network dynamics such that citizens in countries with higher levels of engaged norms are more likely to be motivated to endorse protest posts than those in countries with lower levels of engaged norms. To demonstrate this, I draw on an original cross-national survey experiment, the results of which show that digitally mediated weak-tie appeals to engage in protest have a more strongly positive effect on motivation to endorse the appeal among Koreans than Japanese respondents. Furthermore, the impact of weak-tie appeals exhibits considerable sensitivity to social network heterogeneity among Japanese respondents. The results of this study suggest that, although technology may in principle empower horizontal networks of citizens, its effect is contingent on norms of political behavior.

Under Review

"One of Us! The Effect of Social Pressure on Support for Extreme Policies." (with Daniel Gomez)

Working Papers

"The Political Economy of South Korea's Emissions Trading Scheme." (with Matto Mildenberger)

"The Use of Digital Media for News and Institutional Trust."

"Why Leave Now? Identity, Competitiveness, and Support for Small Parties." (with Geoff Allen)