MÁRIA ŽUFFOVÁ

Publications

•Peer-reviewed journal articles

  1. Žuffová, M. (2023). Gender Stereotypes in Print and Online Media Coverage of Slovak Presidential Candidates in 2009 and 2019. European Political Science Review, 15(1), 75-95. doi: 10.1017/S1755773922000522. (Open Access) [link].

    Recipient of the ECPR Political Communication Best Paper Award 2021

  2. Žuffová, M. (2023). Fit for purpose? Exploring the role of freedom of information laws and their application for watchdog journalism. The International Journal of Press/Politics 28(1): 300-32. doi: 10.1177/19401612211006702 (Open Access) [link]
  3. Žuffová, M. (2020). Do FOI laws and open government data deliver as anti-corruption policies? Evidence from a cross-country study. Government Information Quarterly 37(3). doi: 10.1016/j.giq.2020.101480 [link]

•Work in progress

  1. Žuffová, M. What the Public Wants to Know? A Text-as-data Study of Information Requests to the UK Government. 

    Abstract: In this study, I contest the commonly-shared perception of access to information serving predominantly a government oversight function utilised by investigative journalists to reveal political corruption or misconduct. I argue that ordinary citizens seek information far beyond such a narrow definition of accountability. By applying text-as-data methods to over 36,000 information requests submitted to the UK central government through the platform Whatdotheyknow.com from 2008 to 2017, I show that requests serve as a valuable indicator of public responsiveness to policies. I demonstrate that citizens use them to bring forward their experiences with new policies, seek more clarification, and voice concerns about policies’ impacts on their lives. The results illustrate the great utility of information requests for the study of politics.

    Presented at the EPSA 2020 and ECPR 2020 annual conferences

•Selected policy reports

  1. Bleyer-Simon, K. et al. (2021). Monitoring Media Pluralism in the Digital Era: Application of the Media Pluralism Monitor in the European Union, Albania, Montenegro, Republic of North Macedonia, Serbia & Turkey in the year 2020, Centre for Media Pluralism and Freedom, EUI.
  2. Žuffová, M. & Carlini, R. (2021). Safety of journalists in Europe: Threats and best practices to tackle them. Centre for Media Pluralism and Freedom, Robert Schuman Centre, EUI.
  3. Žuffová, M. (2017). Governing by Rankings: How the Global Open Data Index Helps Advance the Open Data Agenda. Open Knowledge Foundation.
  4. Bouda, P. et al. (2016). Shedding light on public contracts: The Register of Contracts in Public Spending Oversight. Frank Bold.

•Conference proceedings

  1. Žuffová, M. (2017). Political and economic factors explaining open data availability. Proceedings of the International Conference for E-Democracy and Open Government. 17-19 May, Danube University Krems, Austria.