Can governments use Get Out The Vote letters to solve Europe’s turnout crisis? Evidence from a field experiment

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Standard

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, 2018, p. 240-260.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Bhatti, Y, Dahlgaard, JO, Hansen, JH & Hansen, KM 2018, 'Can governments use Get Out The Vote letters to solve Europe’s turnout crisis? Evidence from a field experiment', West European Politics, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 240-260.

APA

Bhatti, Y., Dahlgaard, J. O., Hansen, J. H., & Hansen, K. M. (2018). Can governments use Get Out The Vote letters to solve Europe’s turnout crisis? Evidence from a field experiment. West European Politics, 41(1), 240-260.

Vancouver

Bhatti Y, Dahlgaard JO, Hansen JH, Hansen KM. Can governments use Get Out The Vote letters to solve Europe’s turnout crisis? Evidence from a field experiment. West European Politics. 2018;41(1):240-260.

Author

Bhatti, Yosef ; Dahlgaard, Jens Olav ; Hansen, Jonas Hedegaard ; Hansen, Kasper Møller. / Can governments use Get Out The Vote letters to solve Europe’s turnout crisis? Evidence from a field experiment. In: West European Politics. 2018 ; Vol. 41, No. 1. pp. 240-260.

Bibtex

@article{d3568231c8cd4b52a149d962d367911a,
title = "Can governments use Get Out The Vote letters to solve Europe{\textquoteright}s turnout crisis?: Evidence from a field experiment",
abstract = "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{\textquoteright}s turnout challenges.",
keywords = "Faculty of Social Sciences, voter turnout, get out of the vote, Prospect theory, Inequality, field experiments, calculus of voting",
author = "Yosef Bhatti and Dahlgaard, {Jens Olav} and Hansen, {Jonas Hedegaard} and Hansen, {Kasper M{\o}ller}",
year = "2018",
language = "English",
volume = "41",
pages = "240--260",
journal = "West European Politics",
issn = "0140-2382",
publisher = "Routledge",
number = "1",

}

RIS

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

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

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 - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - voter turnout

KW - get out of the vote

KW - Prospect theory

KW - Inequality

KW - field experiments

KW - calculus of voting

M3 - Journal article

VL - 41

SP - 240

EP - 260

JO - West European Politics

JF - West European Politics

SN - 0140-2382

IS - 1

ER -

ID: 180543850