Group Mobilization

1
Group Mobilization

• Session 16

2
Direct Voter Contact

• Many campaign activities target groups of voters
  rather than individuals
• Broadcasting
• Narrowcasting

3
Direct Contact (continued)

• 19th and early 20th century
• Campaign strategy and direct contact
• The Hoyer campaign
• Costs of direct contact
• Factors
• Imagination of the consultant
• Money
• Data

4

• Targeting
• Friends, foes, and persuadables
• Three objectives
• To persuade
• Urge voters to the polls
• Identify how voters feel
• Message
• Determined by candidates party, status, and
  public opinion research
• Negative messages
• Positive messages

5

• Message Delivery
• Message Recipients
• Age
• Party affiliation
• Past voting behavior

6
The Effects of Direct Contact

• A stronger effect on infrequent voters that
  habitual voters
• Different methods of direct contact have
  different effects on voters
• Door-to-door efforts do not appear to have a
  positive impact on voter turnout
• The content and source of direct mail is also
  important (issues versus character)
• Incumbents direct mail has a more significant
  impact than challengers

7
Consideration for Turnout

• One way to attack low voter turnout is to alter
  the financial and strategic situations faced by
  political campaigns to encourage them to
  distribute their voter contact resources to more
  citizens.