A pair of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have been studying the effects of polling place location on voting behavior. Jonah Berger, assistant professor of marketing in Penn’s Wharton School, and Marc Meredith, assistant professor of political science in the School of Arts and Sciences, began researching the phenomenon while in grad school at Stanford University.… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Polling/Voter Behavior
Study: Petition Signing Draws Infrequent Voters to Polls
Looking for a way to squeeze some more voters out to the polls? Organize a petition-gathering drive for an issue–regardless of whether that petition drive is going to lead anywhere or not. A study published in the March 2012 issue of Political Behavior finds that people who sign petitions are more likely to show up… Continue Reading
Study: Government Experience Still a Good Thing for Candidates to Have
Despite the dismal approval rating of Congress (9% – lower than porn & polygamy!), and other state legislative bodies around the nation, you’d think that trying to make that local legislative seat into a stepping stone into higher office would be a dead end. Think again. In a survey done this month by Pew Research,… Continue Reading
Report: Record Number of Americans Identify as Independents
As you walk door to door this campaigning season, remember one important thing: that person with a D or R next to their name may actually be a closet independent. Gallup reported today that said that the number of self identified independents was the largest in 60 years of reporting. From Gallup.com: The percentage of… Continue Reading
Study: How Easily Is Partisanship Swayed By Your Social Environment?
One of the first things we learn in our high school government class is how partisan affiliation most often passes from generation to generation. To put it another way, the easiest way to tell if you are a Republican or a Democrat when your grown is by seeing what your parents are registered as. But… Continue Reading
Pew Research Analyzes How People Consume Local News (Surprise: Newspapers Are Still Relevant)
The Pew Research Center recently released a survey that gives insight into how Americans get news about their local community, and it holds valuable lessons for candidates running on a local level. Some of the findings of the report are obvious and something that most people have known for a while: Younger adults are relying… Continue Reading
Report: U.S. Researchers Analyze the Power of “Push Polling”
Researchers at Duke, USC and Alberta School of Business have published a study that analyzes and illuminates the power of “push polling”, or the use of hypothetical “what-if” questions that influence thinking and behavior. The researchers found that push polling was more effective over the subject if they had existing knowledge of the person being… Continue Reading
The Magic Words to Increase Voter Turnout?
What if someone told you they knew a way to increase voter turnout by over ten points? In a close election, it all comes down to turning out your voters, and this information would be extremely valuable. Psychologists at Stanford University did several experiments where they were able to increase turnout by over 10% by… Continue Reading
Report: Americans Still Like Labor Unions, But Just Barely
Labor unions play an influential role in most local elections, from endorsing candidates and donating to campaigns, to more importantly, providing the motivated ground troops that will get out the vote. It’s probably a good thing for those labor backed candidates that a recent Gallup poll showed that a slim majority–52%–of Americans approve of labor… Continue Reading