Campaign Effects on Vote Choice

Abstract

AbstractThis article describes how far the literature of campaign effects on vote choice has come, and where it should go. It seems clear that the effects of campaigns are more constrained than often is presented in the media. Moreover, the state of research regarding the influence of campaigns on vote choice (rather than turnout), including campaign effects due to citizen learning, campaign priming, and, more directly, voter persuasion, is discussed. The recent evidence of campaign effects largely reflects the availability of better data and more sophisticated research designs. In addition to individual-level variation in the way voters process campaign information, there is also variation in the particular campaign messages they receive. The great variation in candidate strategy and voter decision making should be viewed as both an opportunity and challenge for campaign scholars.