Evaluations

Researchers evaluated whether disclosure of past voting participation had a stronger impact on turnout when it reminded voters of instances in which they previously voted or of instances in which they failed to vote. The results suggest that mailings disclosing past voting behavior had strong...

Researchers used two randomized evaluations, an online survey and a field experiment, to test how personality traits affect responses to persuasive appeals to vote. They found that individuals with high levels of openness were most responsive to a range of appeals.

To test the impact of an automated phone call from a credible source on voters’ preferences and behavior, researchers delivered the message to random voters in two concurrent randomized evaluations. The call did not increase voter turnout or change voter preferences, suggesting that automated phone...

To evaluate potential methods of increasing voter participation, researchers examined the effect of a simple nonpartisan leaflet (e.g., a printed card) on voter turnout in the 1998 general election in the US city of Hamden, Connecticut. The card had no impact on turnout of voters registered with one...

Early in the 2006 campaign for governor of Texas, the launch date and volume of television advertisements as well as the launch date of radio advertisements for the incumbent candidate were randomly assigned across media markets to evaluate the impact of the ads on public opinion. Results indicate...

Researchers from Yale University conducted a randomized evaluation to examine the effects of political party identification on political attitudes and opinions. Participants in the study who received a printed letter indicating that they must register with a political party to vote in an upcoming...

Researchers examined the impact of door-to-door canvassing on voter turnout in the 2001 local elections in six US cities. The results indicate that voters who were contacted by canvassers were significantly more likely to vote in a wide variety of settings.

To study the effect of increased social pressure on turnout, researchers sent households one of four randomly selected mailings eleven days before Michigan’s August 2006 primary election. All four mailings increased turnout, but informing households of their neighbors’ past voting records raised...