Leveraging Peer-to-Peer Connections to Increase Voter Participation in Local Elections

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

In local elections, outcomes can turn on just hundreds of voters. Small-scale political entrepreneurs find it increasingly difficult to wage effective turnout campaigns relying on traditional, costly methods of outreach. Yet a growing literature on social pressure indicates that recasting voting as a socially motivated act increases the likelihood that voters participate. In this article, I present matching analyses of the impact of a new platform that relies on peer-to-peer voter outreach. I find that the intervention is responsible for significant increases in the likelihood that a voter casts a ballot in low-information elections across different sorts of voters. Related Articles: McKenzie, Mark Jonathan, Cynthia R. Rugeley, and Michael A. Unger. 2015. “Testing Voter Responses to New Style Judicial Campaign Appeals: What Works—Policy Promotion or Experience?” Politics & Policy 43 (4): 562-585. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12123. Reid, Traciel V., and Robert S. Moog. 2011. “Voter Information, Voter Participation, and the North Carolina Judicial Election Reforms: The Views of the Voters.” Politics & Policy 39 (2): 223-250. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2011.00289.x. Saeki, Manabu. 2008. “Vote.com? Issue Voting of Internet Users in the 2000 Presidential Election.” Politics & Policy 33 (2): 296-311. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2005.tb00644.x. Related Media : Video: VoterCircle. N.d. “What If You Could Reach Every Voter Friend to Friend?” https://votercircle.com/.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)248-266
Number of pages19
JournalPolitics and Policy
Volume47
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2019

Keywords

  • Campaigns
  • Email
  • Intervention
  • Local Elections
  • Local Politics
  • Low-Information Elections
  • Networks
  • Peer-to-Peer Voter Outreach
  • Voter Participation
  • Voter Turnout
  • Voting Behavior

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