Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | West European Politics |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Pages (from-to) | 240-260 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| ISSN | 0140-2382 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Published online: 30. June 2017Keywords
- Voter turnout
- Get out the vote
- Prospect theory
- Inequality
- Field experiments
- Calculus of voting
Cite this
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Can Governments Use Get Out the Vote Letters to Solve Europe’s Turnout Crisis? Evidence from a Field Experiment. / Bhatti, Yosef; Dahlgaard, Jens Olav ; Hansen, Jonas Hedegaard; Hansen, Kasper Møller.
In: West European Politics, Vol. 41, No. 1, 01.2018, p. 240-260.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Can Governments Use Get Out the Vote Letters to Solve Europe’s Turnout Crisis?
T2 - Evidence from a Field Experiment
AU - Bhatti, Yosef
AU - Dahlgaard, Jens Olav
AU - Hansen, Jonas Hedegaard
AU - Hansen, Kasper Møller
N1 - Published online: 30. June 2017
PY - 2018/1
Y1 - 2018/1
N2 - Declining levels of turnout are a problem in European elections. Are Get Out The Vote campaigns the solution to the problem? While many studies have investigated such campaigns in the US, little is known about their effect in Europe. The article presents a field experiment in which encouragement to vote in an upcoming Danish election is delivered to more than 60,000 first-time voters using direct personal letters. Eight different letters are designed, based on the calculus of voting and prospect theory. The sample is randomly divided into treatment groups or the control group. Using validated turnout, small positive effects of receiving a letter on turnout are found, with little difference across letters. The letters mostly mobilised voters with a low propensity to vote and thus increased equality in participation. In sum, while letters have some effect, they are not likely to be a panacea for solving Europe’s turnout challenges.
AB - Declining levels of turnout are a problem in European elections. Are Get Out The Vote campaigns the solution to the problem? While many studies have investigated such campaigns in the US, little is known about their effect in Europe. The article presents a field experiment in which encouragement to vote in an upcoming Danish election is delivered to more than 60,000 first-time voters using direct personal letters. Eight different letters are designed, based on the calculus of voting and prospect theory. The sample is randomly divided into treatment groups or the control group. Using validated turnout, small positive effects of receiving a letter on turnout are found, with little difference across letters. The letters mostly mobilised voters with a low propensity to vote and thus increased equality in participation. In sum, while letters have some effect, they are not likely to be a panacea for solving Europe’s turnout challenges.
KW - Voter turnout
KW - Get out the vote
KW - Prospect theory
KW - Inequality
KW - Field experiments
KW - Calculus of voting
KW - Voter turnout
KW - Get out the vote
KW - Prospect theory
KW - Inequality
KW - Field experiments
KW - Calculus of voting
UR - https://sfx-45cbs.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/45cbs?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info:sid/sfxit.com:azlist&sfx.ignore_date_threshold=1&rft.object_id=960239212912
U2 - 10.1080/01402382.2017.1339985
DO - 10.1080/01402382.2017.1339985
M3 - Journal article
VL - 41
SP - 240
EP - 260
JO - West European Politics
JF - West European Politics
SN - 0140-2382
IS - 1
ER -