UC Merced Magazine | Volume XIX, Issue V

Taking the Politics Out of a Contentious Political Season

Professor Nate Monroe, left, works with Associate Director Adam Gray at the new Center of Analytics and Political Engagement.

By Alyssa Johansen

When UC Merced’s Center of Analytics and Political Engagement (CAPE) Director Professor Nathan Monroe and Associate Director Adam Gray were eager college interns just starting their careers, they said those rst political seasons felt “special” and historic. “But, big picture, it was not an unprecedented time. e whole political landscape was not shi ing under our feet,” Monroe said. “ at is not true for the students now.”

at is because of how information is being used, misused, misrepresented, reported and saturated, Monroe said, along with how candidates act and respond, o en contributing to the partisanship that now dominates American politics. en, add to all that the impact of ever-changing social media trends and algorithms. “Because of the way those formats work, each individual is seeing less and less diverse information and seeing more and more information speci cally targeted to us, whatever our perspectives are,” Gray said.

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