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Does negative campaigning influence the likelihood of voting in elections? Our study of U.S. Senate campaigns indicates the answer is "yes." We find that people distinguish between useful negative information presented in an appropriate manner and irrelevant and harsh mudslinging. As the
proportion of legitimate criticisms increases in campaigns, citizens become more likely to cast ballots. When campaigns degenerate into unsubstantiated and shrill attacks, voters tend to stay home. Finally, we find that individuals vary in their sensitivity to the tenor of campaigns. In particular, the tone is more consequential for independents, for those with less interest in politics, and for those with less knowledge about politics.
Election campaigns serve many functions, but principal among them is to motivate people to go to the polls. Indeed, research suggests that campaigns significantly influence the size of the electorate (Caldeira, Patterson, and Markko 1985; Copeland 1983; Hill and Leighley 1993; Patterson and Caldeira 1983; Ragsdale and Rusk 1995; Rosenstone and Hansen 1993). On the one hand, campaigns characterized by lots of spending, uncertain outcomes, and active efforts by party and campaign organizations stimulate citizens to go to the polls. On the other hand, when one candidate is grossly underfunded, when polls show one candidate with a commanding lead, and when visible reminders of the approaching election are largely nonexistent, many voters stay home on election day. The idea that certain types of campaigns can mobilize voters is attractive from a normative perspective, because the United States continues to experience low levels of voter turnout compared with other democracies around the world (Franklin 1996; Powell 1986).
Beyond uncertain outcomes and the industriousness of parties and campaign organizations, voters may be motivated by the amount, type, and tone of information produced during campaigns. Although scholars only recently have begun to examine the motivational aspects of information, Key (1964, 584) noted nearly a half-century ago that the topics discussed by candidates can be motivating: "A campaign ... that presents the electorate with dramatic issues, that commands the attention of the media of communication will stir far more interest than a campaign whose outcome seems to the voter to be of slight immediate importance. The clashes of candidates whose personalities engage the emotions of masses of people will pull...