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May 28, 2009                                                                                    Lynn Stinson,

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GW ADJUNCT FACULTY RELEASES NEW WHITE PAPER ON POLITICAL ACTIVISM

Poli-fluentials and Donors Highlights Differences between Political Activists and Donors

Washington, DC - A new white paper published by a GWU Graduate School of Political Management adjunct faculty member, Carol Darr, shows that unless political donors are active in their communities, they are unlikely to do anything other than make monetary contributions. These donors also emerged as big news junkies.

"Ordinary donors just  keep up with the news and contribute. They read, they watch and they listen.  And they donate.  That's it." said Carol Darr, the co-author of the study.   "They are pathetically inactive, online and offline. They do not volunteer, actively promote candidates or social causes, participate in civic or political activities, forward online communications, or assume leadership roles."

The only donors who actively participate in politics are those who are also "influencers," meaning that they are involved in their communities or take a public advocacy role, according to the new study, which bolsters the findings of a previous study published by GW's Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet (IPDI). The current research paper and a study published by IPDI in October 2007 call citizens who are BOTH donors AND influential community activists the "Poli-fluentials."

"We knew that Poli-fluentials are the ones that exert the strongest influence on public policy, even stronger than ‘Influentials'," said Chris Arterton, Dean of the GSPM. "What we didn't realize was how dramatically different they are from ordinary political donors."

The new study describes the Poli-fluentials as persuasive, well-connected, and adept at using new communication technologies to amplify their influence, and further examines their demographic characteristics and news habits. It also recommends ways of identifying them, including cross-indexing donor lists with lists of people who have sent a letter or an email to an elected official or have purchased political paraphernalia online.

To get the Poli-fluentials' attention, the study recommends focusing on media that provide original, high-quality news and opinions, including blogs. Poli-fluentials, the authors found, are even bigger news junkies than donors, and are twice as likely to read political blogs as people who are neither donors nor activists. The study also found that people who make contributions to blogs and take physical actions at the suggestion of blogs, such as emailing an elected official, are particularly likely to qualify as Poli-fluentials.

The study, Poli-fluentials and Donors: More Details on Political Activists and Contributors, Including Their Media Habits, is available on GSPM's website at http://www.gspm.org/polifluentials-and-donors and IPDI's website at www.ipdi.org.

The Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) at The George Washington University seeks to improve politics by educating its students and professionals in the tools, principles and values of participatory democracy, preparing them for careers as ethical and effective advocates and leaders at the international, national and local levels.

The GSPM's research arm is the Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet (IPDI). IPDI's mission is to promote the use of the Internet and new communication technologies in politics to encourage citizen participation and improve governance at home and abroad.

For more information about GW's Graduate School of Political Management, visit http://www.gspm.org.

For more information about IPDI, visit www.ipdi.org.

- GSPM -