Get Out the Vote! How to Increase Voter Turnout

by Green, Donald P.; Gerber, Alan S.

• ISBN13: 9780815732686
• ISBN10: 0815732686
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-03-24
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Summary

Get Out the Vote!Is a practical guide for anyone trying to mobilize voters or organize at the grass roots. Unlike authors of other campaign advice books, Donald Green and Alan Gerber root their work firmly in rigorous science. Their recommendations emerge from thorough experiments conducted in real electoral settings, examining the impact and effectiveness of door-to-door canvassing, telephone calls, direct mail, and other campaign tactics.Since 1998 the authors have conducted research in over a dozen states, studying a wide range of federal, state, and municipal elections. Their book connects theory with practice, informing campaign professionals and local organizers as well as students of electoral politics. They discover that many GOTV tactics used by campaign managers and political consultants are less effective than is often believed. The authors, relying on rigorous and systematic research, challenge much of the conventional wisdom about what works and what doesn't in the political campaigns. The authors' applied form of political science has won acclaim from scholars and earned the attention of campaign professionals and journalists. This book presents their result for a non-academic audience interested in putting campaign research into practice, and the findings will be surprising to many. Get Out the Vote! will help both consultants and the candidates who use their services better understand the efficacy of campaign methods. It is essential reading in an age of electronic communication, professional electioneering and voter apathy.

Author Biography

Alan S. Gerber is professor of political science at Yale University.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Why Voter Mobilization Matters	1	(10)
Evidence versus Received Wisdom	11	(12)
Door-to-Door Canvassing: Shoe Leather Politics	23	(19)
Leaflets: Walk, Don't Talk	42	(7)
Direct Mail: Postal Service as Campaign Staff	49	(14)
Phone Banks: Politics Meets Telemarketing	63	(18)
Electronic Mail: Faster, Cheaper, but Does It Work?	81	(9)
Frontiers of Get-Out-the-Vote Research	90	(43)
Appendixes
A Technical Results of Door-to-Door Canvassing Experiments	113	(6)
B Technical Results of Direct Mail Experiments	119	(5)
C Technical Results of Phone Calling Experiments	124	(9)
Notes	133	(8)
Index	141