Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-hqlzj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-11T18:40:39.062Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Effects of Canvassing, Telephone Calls, and Direct Mail on Voter Turnout: A Field Experiment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2000

Alan S. Gerber  and
Donald P. Green
Alan S. Gerber
Affiliation:
Yale University
Donald P. Green
Affiliation:
Yale University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We report the results of a randomized field experiment involving approximately 30,000 registered voters in New Haven, Connecticut. Nonpartisan get-out-the-vote messages were conveyed through personal canvassing, direct mail, and telephone calls shortly before the November 1998 election. A variety of substantive messages were used. Voter turnout was increased substantially by personal canvassing, slightly by direct mail, and not at all by telephone calls. These findings support our hypothesis that the long-term retrenchment in voter turnout is partly attributable to the decline in face-to-face political mobilization.

Information

Type
Research Notes
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 94 , Issue 3 , September 2000 , pp. 653 - 663
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Abramson, Paul R., Aldrich, John H., and Rohde, David W.. 1998. Change and Continuity in the 1996 Elections. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly.Google Scholar
Adams, William C., and Smith, Dennis J.. 1980. “Effects of Telephone Canvassing on Turnout and Preferences: A Field Experiment.” Public Opinion Quarterly 44 (Autumn): 389–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, Barbara A., Silver, Brian D., and Abramson, Paul R.. 1988. “The Effects of Race of the Interviewer on Measures of Electoral Participation by Blacks in SRC National Election Studies.” Public Opinion Quarterly 52 (Spring): 53–83.10.1086/269082CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Angrist, Joshua D., Imbens, Guido W., and Rubin, Donald B.. 1996. “Identification of Causal Effects Using Instrumental Variables.” Journal of the American Statistical Association 91 (June): 444–55.10.1080/01621459.1996.10476902CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ansolabehere, Stephen, and Iyengar, Shanto. 1995. Going Negative: How Political Advertisements Shrink and Polarize the Electorate. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Blydenburgh, John C. 1971. “A Controlled Experiment to Measure the Effects of Personal Contact Campaigning.” Midwest Journal of Political Science 15 (May): 365–81.10.2307/2110276CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broder, David S. 1971. The Party's Over: The Failure of Politics in America. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Cain, Bruce E., and McCue, Ken. 1985. “The Efficacy of Registration Drives.” Journal of Politics 47 (November): 1221–30.10.2307/2130816CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldeira, Gregory A., Clausen, Aage R., and Patterson, Samuel C.. 1990. “Partisan Mobilization and Electoral Participation.” Electoral Studies 9 (3): 191–204.10.1016/0261-3794(90)90025-4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christensen, Colleen, Fierst, Deborah, Jodocy, April, and Lorenz, Dennis N.. 1998. “Answering the Call for Prosocial Behavior.” The Journal of Social Psychology 138 (5): 564–71.10.1080/00224549809600411CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eldersveld, Samuel J. 1956. “Experimental Propaganda Techniques and Voting Behavior.” American Political Science Review 50 (March): 154–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eldersveld, Samuel J., and Dodge, Richard W.. 1954. “Personal Contact or Mail Propaganda? An Experiment in Voting and Attitude Change.” In Public Opinion and Propaganda, ed. Katz, Daniel, Cartwright, Dorwin, Eldersveld, Samuel, and Lee, Alfred M.. New York: Dryden.Google Scholar
Gosnell, Harold F. 1927. Getting-Out-the-Vote: An Experiment in the Stimulation of Voting. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Gosnell, Harold F. 1937. Machine Politics: Chicago Model. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Granberg, Donald, and Holmberg, Soren. 1992. “The Hawthorne Effect in Election Studies: The Impact of Survey Participation on Voting.” British Journal of Political Science 22 (April): 240–7.10.1017/S0007123400006359CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huckfeldt, Robert, and Sprague, John. 1992. “Political Parties and Electoral Mobilization: Political Structure, Social Structure, and the Party Canvass.” American Political Science Review 86 (March): 70–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jason, Leonard A., Rose, Thomas, Ferrari, Joseph R., and Barone, Russ. 1984. “Personal Versus Impersonal Methods for Recruiting Blood Donations.” Journal of Social Psychology 123 (June): 139–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kramer, Gerald H. 1970. “The Effects of Precinct-Level Canvassing on Voting Behavior.” Public Opinion Quarterly 34 (Winter): 560–72.10.1086/267841CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kraut, Robert E., and McConahay, John B.. 1973. “How Being Interviewed Affects Voting: An Experiment.” Public Opinion Quarterly 37 (Spring): 398–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lau, Richard R., Sigelman, Lee, Heldman, Caroline, and Babbitt, Paul. 1999. “The Effects of Negative Political Advertisements: A Meta-Analytic Assessment.” American Political Science Review 93 (December): 851–76.10.2307/2586117CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lupfer, Michael, and Price, David E.. 1972. “On the Merits of Face-to-Face Campaigning.” Social Science Quarterly 53 (December): 534–43.Google Scholar
Miller, Roy E., Bositis, David A., and Baer, Denise L.. 1981. “Stimulating Voter Turnout in a Primary: Field Experiment with a Precinct Committeeman.” International Political Science Review 2 (4): 445–60.10.1177/019251218100200405CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, David E., and Lupfer, Michael. 1973. “Volunteers for Gore: The Impact of a Precinct Level Canvass in Three Tennessee Cities.” Journal of Politics 35 (May): 410–38.10.2307/2129076CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putnam, Robert C. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Renewal of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Reams, Margaret A., and Ray, Brooks H.. 1993. “The Effects of Three Prompting Methods on Recycling Participation Rates: A Field Study.” Journal of Environmental Systems 22 (4): 371–9.10.2190/5EJN-QJH9-VWAW-KL3TCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riker, William, and Ordeshook, Peter C.. 1968. “A Theory of the Calculus of Voting.“ American Political Science Review 62 (March): 25–42.10.1017/S000305540011562XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rivers, Douglas, and Vuong, Q. H.. 1988. “Limited Information Estimators and Exogeneity Tests for Simultaneous Probit Models.” Journal of Econometrics 39 (3): 347–66.10.1016/0304-4076(88)90063-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenstone, Steven J., and Hansen, John Mark. 1993. Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Sayre, Wallace, and Kaufman, Herbert. 1960. Governing New York City: Politics in the Metropolis. Philadelphia: Russell Sage.Google Scholar
Spaccarelli, Steve, Zolik, Edwin, and Jason, Leonard A.. 1989. “Effects of Verbal Prompting and Block Characteristics on Participation in Curbside Newspaper Recycling.” Journal of Environmental Systems 19 (1): 45–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Traugott, Michael W., and Katosh, John P.. 1979. “Response Validity in Surveys of Voting Behavior.” Public Opinion Quarterly 43 (Fall): 359–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Theodore H., and Katzev, Richard D.. 1990. “Group Commitment and Resource Conservation: Two Field Experiments on Promoting Recycling.” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 20 (4): 265–75.10.1111/j.1559-1816.1990.tb00411.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ware, Alan. 1985. The Breakdown of Democratic Party Organization, 1940–1980. Oxford: Clarendon.Google Scholar
Wielhouwer, Peter W., and Lockerbie, Brad. 1994. “Party Contacting and Political Participation.” American Journal of Political Science 38 (February): 211–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfinger, Raymond E. 1974. The Politics of Progress. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Yalch, Richard F. 1976. “Pre-Election Interview Effects on Voter Turnout.” Public Opinion Quarterly 40 (Autumn): 331–6.10.1086/268309CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.