Getting Citizens Involved: How Controversial Policy Debates Stimulate Issue Participation during a Political Campaign

Abstract

This study tests the relative mobilizing effects of predispositional factors and attention to media content during a gubernatorial race that focused heavily on stem cell research as a salient campaign issue. Our analyses are based on a statewide telephone survey (N = 508 in June–July 2006) conducted prior to the midterm and gubernatorial elections in the U.S. State of Wisconsin. Results show that ideological predispositions and attention to both newspaper and online media best explain issue participation. In contrast with prior research, our findings show that religiosity did not influence issue participation on the stem cell controversy in Wisconsin. Implications of these findings and the importance of research on issue participation for the field of public opinion research and the future of political campaigns are discussed.