Johanna Dunaway, professor of political science, has co-written “The House that Fox News Built? Representation, Political Accountability, and the Rise of Partisan News” (Cambridge University Press, 2025). The book’s co-authors include Kevin Arceneaux of Sciences Po in Paris, France, Martin Johnson of Louisiana State University and Ryan J. Vander Wielen of the State University of New York, Stony Brook.

The book scientifically examines the impact of partisan news on political elites. Using a quasi-experimental research design, observational data and open science practices, the authors argue that the rise of partisan cable news in the United States affected the behavior of political elites during the proliferation of Fox News between 1996 and 2010. The authors reach a measured conclusion that while Fox News has in fact changed elite political behavior in recent decades, the network's overall influence may be overstated.

Dunaway has co-authored recent books including, “Home Style Opinion: How Local Newspapers Can Slow Polarization” (Cambridge University Press, 2021), “News and Democratic Citizens in the Mobile Era” (Oxford University Press, 2022) and the 11th edition of the textbook, “Mass Media and American Politics” (CQ Press, 2022). She received a Carnegie Fellowship in 2024 to continue her research on the roots and consequences of affective polarization. Her project, “Nationalized News Increases Polarization and Weakens Democratic Norms,” investigates how the nationalizing news environment contributes to citizens’ negative affect toward out-party elites and members of the public, which can then override democratic values.

Dunaway is research director of the Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship. She teaches courses on American politics, political behavior, public opinion and mass media.

From the publisher:

“The influence of partisan news is presumed to be powerful, but evidence for its effects on political elites is limited, often based more on anecdotes than science. Using a rigorous quasi-experimental research design, observational data, and open science practices, this book carefully demonstrates how the re-emergence and rise of partisan cable news in the US affected the behavior of political elites during the rise and proliferation of Fox News across media markets between 1996 and 2010. Despite widespread concerns over the ills of partisan news, evidence provides a nuanced, albeit cautionary tale. On one hand, findings suggest that the rise of Fox indeed changed elite political behavior in recent decades. At the same time, the limited conditions under which Fox News' influence occurred suggests that concerns about the network's power may be overstated.”