An Experiment Testing the Relative Effectiveness of Encouraging Voter Participation by Inducing Feelings of Pride or Shame

Gerber, Alan S.; Green, Donald P.; Larimer, Christopher W.

doi:10.1007/s11109-010-9110-4

Cited by 115 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Civic attitudes have been found in a number of studies to be far more powerful motives for voting (Oliver 1999(Oliver , 2001Soss and Jacobs 2009;Verba et al 1995;Verba 2004). It is undoubtedly for this reason that it has been found relatively easy to 'nudge' some people into voting by reminding them of their civic duty or informing them of the proportion of other people in their neighbourhood who have voted (Gerber et al 2008(Gerber et al , 2010; many can quite easily be persuaded to part with 20 min of their time and a bit of shoe leather, in the same way that they can be jollied into texting a small amount of money to charity by a television comedy show. The alternative 'sociological' explanation for voting is thus that citizens turn out because it is a social norm, and they do not wish to deviate from that norm (Gerber et al 2016).…”

Section: 'Economic' Approaches To Votingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Under voluntary voting systems, a large proportion of the effort that parties and candidates put into campaigning is devoted to ensuring that their known supporters turn out to vote. Mobilising the base has become an especial challenge in contexts such as the US, where turnout is unusually low (Gerber et al 2010;Goldstein and Ridout 2002;Schier 2000). When vote mobilisation is no longer necessary, the efforts of candidates and parties are perforce refocused on suasion: securing the vote of undecided voters and converting the adherents of other parties.…”

Section: Democratic Norms Empirical Realities and Approaches To… 19mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Democratic Norms, Empirical Realities and Approaches to Improving Voter Turnout

Birch

2017

Res Publica

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Though falling turnout in recent decades has been recognised as a problem for democracy, the solutions that have been proposed have mostly been drawn from the realms of the marketplace and society, rather than that of democracy. The inadequate empirical theory that subtends many policy initiatives designed to improve turnout accounts for why these initiatives have largely failed to achieve their stated aims. I argue that electoral participation should be seen through the conceptual lens of collective action, and that this approach suggests mandatory electoral participation as an equitable and effective coordination device. I further argue that compulsory turnout offers a good fit with democratic norms of equality, rights and political obligation.

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Section: 'Economic' Approaches To Votingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Democratic Norms Empirical Realities and Approaches To… 19mentioning

confidence: 99%

Democratic Norms, Empirical Realities and Approaches to Improving Voter Turnout

Birch

2017

Res Publica

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“…31 Dowding, John, and Rubenson 2012. 32 Gerber, Green, and Larimer 2010;Panagopolous 2010. 33 Green and Gerber 2010.…”

Section: Expressive Voting and Social Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Shared Partisanship, Household Norms and Turnout: Testing a Relational Theory of Electoral Participation

Fieldhouse¹,

Cutts²

2016

Brit. J. Polit. Sci.

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Previous research shows that the household context is a crucial source of influence on turnout. This article sets out a relational theory of voting in which turnout is dependent on the existence of relational selective consumption benefits. The study provides empirical tests of key elements of the proposed model using household survey data from Great Britain. First, building on expressive theories of voting, it examines the extent to which shared partisan identification enhances turnout. Secondly, extending theories of voting as a social norm, it tests whether the civic norms of citizens' families or households affect turnout over and above the social norms of the individual. In accordance with expectations of expressive theories of voting, it finds that having a shared party identification with other members of the household increases turnout. It also finds that the civic duty of other household members is important in explaining turnout, even when allowing for respondent's civic duty.A growing body of research shows that the household context is a powerful source of influence on turnout. 1 For example, in Britain the probability that a citizen living with a voter will also vote is as high as 90 per cent, compared to only 10 per cent for a citizen living with a non-voter. 2 Building on early work from the Columbia school, which highlighted the role of social influences on electoral behaviour, 3 and more recent work on social network effects, the social transmission of messages 4 and interpersonal mobilization, 5 this article sets out a relational theory of voting. We provide preliminary empirical tests of the key elements of the proposed model using data from Great Britain.Central to our approach is an understanding of turnout as a socially embedded activity. 6 The dominant view in social models of participation is that social intimates grow more alike through long-term processes of socialization 7 and interpersonal influence. 8 We argue that the strong interdependence of voting in families (and other close-knit groups) arises because socially connected people motivate each other to vote at election time, either deliberately or otherwise, and these short-term influences can have lasting effects through social leaning and habituation.

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“…They found strong ties exert more social pressure than do weak ties. Relatedly, field studies of voting behavior find the amount of social pressure is proportional to the number of one's contacts who are watching (77).…”

Section: P 91)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating social networks and human social motives to achieve social influence at scale

Contractor

DeChurch

2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The innovations of science often point to ideas and behaviors that must spread and take root in communities to have impact. Ideas, practices, and behaviors need to go from accepted truths on the part of a few scientists to commonplace beliefs and norms in the minds of the many. Moving from scientific discoveries to public good requires social influence. We introduce a structured influence process (SIP) framework to explain how social networks (i.e., the structure of social influence) and human social motives (i.e., the process of social influence wherein one person's attitudes and behaviors affect another's) are used collectively to enact social influence within a community. The SIP framework advances the science of scientific communication by positing social influence events that consider both the "who" and the "how" of social influence. This framework synthesizes core ideas from two bodies of research on social influence. The first is network research on social influence structures, which identifies who are the opinion leaders and who among their network of peers shapes their attitudes and behaviors. The second is research on social influence processes in psychology, which explores how human social motives such as the need for accuracy or the need for affiliation stimulate behavior change. We illustrate the practical implications of the SIP framework by applying it to the case of reducing neonatal mortality in India. T here is compelling evidence that both in the developing and developed world the day a baby is born is the most dangerous of the child's life. In 2012, 2.9 million children died in their first month of life and over a third on their first day. India alone accounts for more than a quarter of the world's neonatal deaths, with 31 of every 1,000 children dying before age 28 d. Although the neonatal mortality rate (NMR) in India has been declining, it is still 10 times higher than in the developed world.From Scientific Discovery to Public Good Scientific discoveries stand to drastically reduce NMR, greatly improving the lives of the next generation of children living in the world's largest democracy. Although there is a substantial portfolio of actionable insights, often bolstered by multiple randomized control trials (RCTs), a pressing challenge confronting funders, health-care administrators, and workers is to scale up these practices from pilot projects to widespread practices. Ideas, facts, practices, and behaviors need to go from accepted truths on the part of a few scientists to commonplace beliefs and norms in the minds of the many health-care workers as well as the populace at large in places most in need of them. For instance, it is well documented that over a third of all neonatal deaths are caused by infection, and umbilical cord infection is a major risk factor for many of these (1). It is also well established in RCTs that applying an inexpensive topical solution of 4% chlorhexidine (CHG) to cleanse the cord reduced neonatal mortality in developing countries such as Nepal by 24%, with com...

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An Experiment Testing the Relative Effectiveness of Encouraging Voter Participation by Inducing Feelings of Pride or Shame

Cited by 115 publications

References 28 publications

Democratic Norms, Empirical Realities and Approaches to Improving Voter Turnout

Democratic Norms, Empirical Realities and Approaches to Improving Voter Turnout

Shared Partisanship, Household Norms and Turnout: Testing a Relational Theory of Electoral Participation

Integrating social networks and human social motives to achieve social influence at scale

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