scholarly journals Does the Media Matter? A Field Experiment Measuring the Effect of Newspapers on Voting Behavior and Political Opinions

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan S Gerber ◽  
Dean Karlan ◽  
Daniel Bergan
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Washington Post ◽  
Democratic Candidate ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Slant ◽  
Gubernatorial Election ◽  
Political Opinions

We conducted a field experiment to measure the effect of exposure to newspapers on political behavior and opinion. Before the 2005 Virginia gubernatorial election, we randomly assigned individuals to a Washington Post free subscription treatment, a Washington Times free subscription treatment, or a control treatment. We find no effect of either paper on political knowledge, stated opinions, or turnout in post-election survey and voter data. However, receiving either paper led to more support for the Democratic candidate, suggesting that media slant mattered less in this case than media exposure. Some evidence from voting records also suggests that receiving either paper led to increased 2006 voter turnout. (JEL D72, L82)

Local Elections and the Politics of Small-Scale Democracy

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Eric Oliver ◽  
Shang E. Ha ◽  
Zachary Callen
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Personal Connections ◽  
Community Ties

Local government is the hidden leviathan of American politics: it accounts for nearly a tenth of gross domestic product, it collects nearly as much in taxes as the federal government, and its decisions have an enormous impact on Americans' daily lives. Yet political scientists have few explanations for how people vote in local elections, particularly in the smaller cities, towns, and suburbs where most Americans live. Drawing on a wide variety of data sources and case studies, this book offers the first comprehensive analysis of electoral politics in America's municipalities. Arguing that current explanations of voting behavior are ill suited for most local contests, the book puts forward a new theory that highlights the crucial differences between local, state, and national democracies. Being small in size, limited in power, and largely unbiased in distributing their resources, local governments are “managerial democracies” with a distinct style of electoral politics. Instead of hinging on the partisanship, ideology, and group appeals that define national and state elections, local elections are based on the custodial performance of civic-oriented leaders and on their personal connections to voters with similarly deep community ties. Explaining not only the dynamics of local elections, Oliver's findings also upend many long-held assumptions about community power and local governance, including the importance of voter turnout and the possibilities for grassroots political change.

Party Messaging in the U.S. House of Representatives

2021 ◽  
pp. 106591292110297
Author(s):  
Tyler Hughes ◽  
Gregory Koger
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Substantive Content ◽  
Legislative Agenda ◽  
The Media ◽  
Party Members ◽  
The U.S

Both Congressional parties compete to promote their own reputations while damaging the opposition party’s brand. This behavior affects both policy-making agendas and the party members’ communications with the media and constituents. While there has been ample study of partisan influence on legislative agenda-setting and roll call voting behavior, much less is known about the parties’ efforts to shape the public debate. This paper analyzes two strategic decisions of parties: the timing of collective efforts to influence the public policy debate and the substantive content of these “party messaging” events. These dynamics are analyzed using a unique dataset of 50,195 one-minute speeches delivered on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1989 to 2016. We find a pattern of strategic matching—both parties are more likely to engage in concurrent messaging efforts, often on the same issue.

scholarly journals ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS IN INDONESIAN POLITICS: EVIDENCE FROM THE 2017 JAKARTA GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Nathanael Gratias Sumaktoyo
Keyword(s):  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Relative Influence ◽  
Religious Influence ◽  
Ethnic Chinese ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Gubernatorial Election

Abstract Studies have documented how ethnic and religious sentiments shape the voting behavior of Indonesian Muslims. However, to date no studies have carefully measured the relative influence of these sentiments. I fill this gap in the literature by taking advantage of the candidacy of a Christian, ethnic Chinese candidate in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election in Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok). Employing an original survey of Jakartan Muslims, I show through experimental and correlational analyses that Muslim voters are more opposed to Ahok than non-Muslim voters are and that this opposition is driven more by Ahok's ethnicity, as opposed to his religion. I also show that Muslim voters’ feelings toward ethnic Chinese shape their support for Ahok more than their feelings toward Christians. I discuss how these findings inform our understanding of the limits and extent of religious influence on Muslim voting behavior.

scholarly journals Phosphorus effects of recycled products from municipal wastewater on crops in a field experiment

2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (No. 10) ◽  
pp. 475-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vogel Telse ◽  
Nelles Michael ◽  
Eichler-Löbermann Bettina
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Spring Barley ◽  
P Uptake ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
First Year ◽  
Soil P ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Fertilizing Effect ◽  
Sludge Ash

In this study, the phosphorus (P) fertilizing effects of struvite, one thermochemical-treated sewage sludge ash (SSA) based on Ca-P (Ca-SSA) and one full sulfuric acid-digested SSA based on Al-P (Al-SSA) were analysed in comparison to triple superphosphate (TSP) and a control treatment (CON) without P application in a two-year field experiment. In the field experiment, the effects of the recycling products on crop yield, P uptake and labile soil P fractions were analysed. In addition, the effect of nitrogen and magnesium contained in struvite was investigated in the second year of the experiment compared to TSP and CON. In the first year, spring barley was cultivated in the field experiment; and in the second year, it was forage rye followed by sorghum. In the second year, the relative P effectiveness (forage rye, sorghum) of the recycling products compared to TSP increased in the order: Ca-SSA (81%, 91%) ≤ Al-SSA (91%, 96%) = struvite (102%, 110%). In addition, an magnesium fertilizing effect of struvite could be demonstrated. The results show that the recycling products from wastewater treatment are appropriate to substitute rock phosphate-based fertilizers.

scholarly journals The effect of application of control techniques to the population, damage intensity of onion caterpillar (Spodoptera exigua hubner) and yield of shallots

2021 ◽  
Vol 905 (1) ◽  
pp. 012109
Author(s):  
R A D Pangestu ◽  
Hadiwiyono ◽  
Supriyadi
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Spodoptera Exigua ◽  
Control Plot ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Active Ingredients ◽  
Insecticide Treatment ◽  
Cash Crop ◽  
Control Techniques ◽  
Experiment Control ◽  
Important Cash Crop

Abstract Shallot is an important cash crop in Indonesia. However, its productivity is relatively low, due to the attack of the onion caterpillar (Spodoptera exigua Hubner). This study aimed to identify the effect of the application of control techniques on the population, damage intensity, and shallots yield. This research was conducted by field experiment. Control treatment consisted of covering shallots by using gauze/net and insecticide treatment with active ingredients of profenofos, metomil, and carbosulfan. The research variables consisted of the population and the damage intensity of S. exigua, as well as the yield of shallots. The results showed that the caterpillars population of S. exigua was found at 16 DAP and increased up to before harvest at 44 DAP. Covering shallots with gauze effectively suppressed the population of S. exigua (0.0 per hills), followed by treatment with profenofos (0.14 per hills), carbosulfan (0.15 per hills), and methomyl 0.32 per hills). The damage intensity of S. exigua in the plot gauze covered was 0%, lower than 32%, 25%, 12%, 10%, respectively, in the control plot, treatment of metomil, carbosulfan, and profenofos. Covering shallots with gauze also increased the weight of wet-harvested tubers (50.83 g per hills).

Understanding Michigan's Electoral Competitiveness: Swing Counties 1976-2018

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-201
Author(s):  
JOHN S. KLEMANSKI ◽  
DAVID A. DULIO ◽  
DOUGLAS A. CARR
Keyword(s):  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
County Level ◽  
Major Focus ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Gubernatorial Election ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Electoral Competitiveness

ABSTRACT Considerable media attention was given to the so-called “pivot counties” in the U.S. and in Michigan that flipped from supporting Barack Obama twice to voting for Donald Trump in 2016. We first summarize theories of voting behavior and speculate about why Michigan has been consistently competitive over the years. We explore 40 years' worth of county-level presidential and gubernatorial election results in Michigan to determine how frequently counties have flipped across a large number of elections. We find that a number of Michigan counties frequently flip between elections, but the number of competitive Michigan counties has substantially declined in recent decades. Turnout in larger counties can affect election outcomes, and large counties that swing have been key bellwethers in past elections, and should be a major focus of research on future elections in Michigan.

Behind the Scenes with the Snowden Files

2021 ◽  
pp. 105-122
Author(s):  
Ellen Nakashima
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Right To Know ◽  
Washington Post ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
Duty To Inform ◽  
Push And Pull

This essay examines how the Washington Post dealt with the tension between its duty to inform the public and its desire to protect national security when it received documents leaked by Edward Snowden. The essay describes the push-and-pull between the media and the government. Journalists try to advance the public’s right to know, particularly about potential government encroachment on civil liberties, and the government tries to defend the security of the country while respecting civil liberties. Reporters with a bias for public disclosure voluntarily withhold certain documents and details based on a careful consideration of harm, and intelligence officials with a bias toward secrecy do not fight every disclosure. The Post’s coverage of the Snowden leaks provides an opportunity to gain insights into how to navigate the inevitable conflicts between journalists’ desire to inform the public and the government’s desire to protect its secrets from foreign powers.

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