Browsing by Subject "Voting research--United States"

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Before behavior: examining language and emotion in mobilization messages
(2005) Sawyer, J. Kanan; Hart, Roderick P.
This dissertation seeks to understand the language and emotional appeals that constitute voter mobilization messages, often called get-out-the-vote or GOTV. Much scholarly attention has been given to voter mobilization efforts due to their prominence on the political landscape. These studies focus on the ultimate effect of mobilization: behavior. Yet, because mobilization messages are intended as persuasive rhetorical acts, their language deserves just as much attention as any behavioral outcome. What the present study sought to add to the mobilization research literature was an understanding of the linguistic choices made during mobilization drives. It examined mobilization messages sent out from distinct GOTV campaigns to seven different demographic groups over the course of two years. Analysis of these messages helped reveal several unexpected linguistic patterns. First, mobilization groups did not adapt their messages to the tastes of specific audience groups. Instead, mobilization characteristics emerged which included a balanced emotional tone, a focus on social needs, choice of metaphor as a primary language strategy, and certainty when depicting social and political issues. Further investigation revealed that mobilizers both selected and structured in the same manner four distinct emotional appeal types regardless the audience being addressed. Most surprisingly were the results that showed that mobilization messages contained very few requests for action from the audience. The GOTV efforts that fell outside the bounds of some of the above linguistic and emotional appeals were campaigns targeted toward youth. While youth-oriented campaigns shared the aims of other mobilization groups, the construction of their messages appeared to be shaped by the nature of the relationship between the mobilizer and the audience in a manner distinct from other mobilization campaigns. Each of these findings and their implications for future language-based as well as effects-oriented GOTV studies is detailed in the dissertation, whose primary goal is to shift the scholarly trend of understanding mobilization from a strictly effects-based focus to include a spotlight on language.
Polls and voting behavior: the impact of polling information on candidate preference, turnout, and strategic voting
(2004) Giammo, Joseph Donald; Shaw, Daron R., 1966-
Public opinion polls have become an integral part of the coverage of presidential elections. The story of the campaign is often told through the lens of the horse-race; candidates are leading or trailing, gaining or losing ground in their efforts to capture the White House. These polls, which provides important information to the public about the views of their fellow citizens, may also serve to shape the opinions and actions of that public, particularly in determining which candidate to support, whether or not to show up on Election Day, and whether to vote sincerely or strategically. Using both an analysis of a well-established national survey over the past ten elections and the results of a set of experiments done at the University of Texas, this study examines the effects of polling information on those decisions, keeping in mind that not all individuals will to react to the same information in the same way. The results of this study indicate that while polls do have an impact on the opinions and behaviors of those exposed to them, the effects themselves are minimal, and tend to largely reinforce existing predispositions. Those who have already chosen a candidate to support in an election tend to use the poll results to reinforce those preferences. Potential voters who are exposed to information suggesting a close election are more likely to participate, but only marginally so. Individuals who are considering whether or not to vote for a third party candidate do react to the strength of that candidate in the polls, but seem unimpressed by the strategic situation. Overall, this study indicates that the strong emphasis by the media on the relative popularity of the candidates does not seem to make a significant difference in the actions of individuals, and thus in the results of presidential elections.