Do get-out-the-vote (GOTV) drives mobilize voters in all elections or just in high stakes elections?
Background Many campaigns use GOTV drives with face-to-face campaigning to increase turnout among people who consistently do not vote. To test whether or not face-to-face campaigning mobilizes nonvoters researchers only looked at citizens who typically do not vote when analyzing 11 field experiments. Results
Link to Study Do members of the same household share similar voting behaviors because of their influence on each other?
Background There have been studies showing that members of the same household share similar voting behaviors on average. Researchers performed a face-to-face canvassing experiment in various cities. They visited households with two registered voters. Residents who answered the door received either a Get Out the Vote message or a recycled pitch. Then they looked at whether or not the person in each household who did not answer the door went to vote. Results
Link to Study Do voter registration drives get more people to vote and if they do, what type of person do they encourage to vote?
Background It is difficult to measure how much voter registration drives actually increase voter turnout. The field experiment focused on city streets in six cities. Streets in the cities were randomly assigned to receive visits from canvassers trying to register voters. Researchers categorized the streets based on prior voter turnout. Results
Link to Study Can contact with a campaign increase voter turnout?
Background There are a lot of studies on campaigns but there haven’t been many conclusions on how effective campaign efforts are in politics. In 2006, in California’s 44th District, there was a local State Assembly seat open. Democratic activists wanted to get voters to the polls. They used a variety of methods to contact citizens: phone, email, door hanger, face-to-face contact, and other forms of contact. Using this natural experiment political scientists determined the effect of campaign contact on voter turnout. Results
Link to Study Can state officials increase local officials’ compliance with federal laws using subtle messages or hints?
Background There are federal laws requiring voter registration to be available at certain government agencies, but many counties do not follow these laws. The experiment involved two states. In one state the timing of the training of local government employees was randomly changed. In the other state the content of e-mails sent by the election office to certain agencies was randomly changed. Results
Link to Study Can community organizations increase attendance at housing fairs by giving residents personal invitations?
Background The city of Milwaukee has increased community outreach efforts to get residents to attend and participate in housing programs to improve the neighborhood. Four field experiments were conducted in Milwaukee to test the success of these outreach efforts.
Results
MDL Policy Brief. 2014. “Community Outreach around Housing” Milwaukee, WI: The Marquette Democracy Lab Project Door-to-Door Mobilization Can Get More Voters to the Polls If There Are Certain Social Rewards.1/10/2016
Does the method of voting and/or surrounding factors of the election contribute to whether or not door-to-door mobilization increases voter participation?
Background In San Diego County certain voters are required to vote by mail while others live in traditional precincts and can vote by going to a polling place. In a field experiment to measure the effects of door-to-door canvassing get out the vote (GOTV) canvassers were randomly assigned to fifty traditional precincts and fifty vote-by-mail precincts. This was leading up to the November 2008 general election. Voting’s social rewards, such as campaign activity, the people running in the election, and the significance of the election, were also considered. Results
Link to Study Does expressing a position help state legislators build support even if their positions are controversial or opposite to the public?
Background 8 Democratic state legislators from a Midwestern state agreed to participate in the experiment. Constituents took surveys before getting letters from the legislators. In the first round one legislator sent some constituents letters taking an opposite stance on an issue while other constituents did not receive a letter. In the second round seven legislators did the same thing except some of the letters had an extensive explanation while others had a brief explanation. Recipients were also surveyed after they received the letters. Results
Link to Study The New York Times Article on Study Governing.com Article on Study To Increase Response Rates to Government Administered Surveys—Tell Citizens the Benefits. 1/3/2016
Can municipal governments increase response rates to surveys by telling citizens how it will benefit them and/or their community?
Background A small town in the Northeast wanted pubic input for a major public redevelopment project. The emailed citizens in their town a link to a survey about the redevelopment project using three different strategies:
Results
Authors: Daniel Butler and Eleanor Powell Does giving legislators results of their constituents' public opinion polls change their votes?
Background The New Mexico state legislature voted on a proposal to give citizens a one-time tax rebate. Half of the legislators in New Mexico’s House of Representatives received a letter and email with results of opinion polls and the other half of members in the House were not given any information about the results of the polls. Results Legislators who learned that their district was against the one-time tax rebate were 10-25 percentage points more likely to vote against the one-time tax rebate. Link to Study |
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