Does canvassing increase voter turnout? A field experiment

摘要

This paper reports the results of a random- ized field experiment involving registered voters in the city of New Haven. Nonpartisan get-out-the-vote messages were de- livered through personal canvassing shortly before the No- vember 1998 election. We find that personal canvassing in- creased voter turnout by approx=6. The effect of personal contact seems to be slightly smaller for voters registered with a major political party and higher for unaffiliated voters, although the hypothesis that all voters are equally affected could not be rejected. Study of several alternative political messages pro- vided equivocal evidence suggesting the superiority of a can- vassing appeal that emphasizes the closeness of the election.