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  • July 2021
  • Article
  • Economics & Politics

Do Interactions with Candidates Increase Voter Support and Participation? Experimental Evidence from Italy

By: Enrico Cantoni and Vincent Pons
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

We test whether politicians can use direct contact to reconnect with citizens, increase turnout, and win votes. During the 2014 Italian municipal elections, we randomly assigned 26,000 voters to receive visits from city council candidates, from canvassers supporting the candidates’ party list, or to a control group. While canvassers’ visits increased turnout by 1.8 percentage points, candidates’ had no impact on participation. Candidates increased their own vote share in the precincts they canvassed, but only at the expense of their running mates. This suggests that their failure to mobilize nonvoters resulted from focusing on securing the preferences of active voters.

Keywords

Campaigns; Candidates; Elections; Experiment; Political Parties; Turnout; Voting Behavior; Voting; Political Elections; Behavior; Interpersonal Communication; Italy

Citation

Cantoni, Enrico, and Vincent Pons. "Do Interactions with Candidates Increase Voter Support and Participation? Experimental Evidence from Italy." Economics & Politics 33, no. 2 (July 2021): 379–402.
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About The Author

Vincent Pons

Business, Government and the International Economy
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More from the Authors

    • 2023
    • Faculty Research

    The Effect of Childhood Environment on Political Behavior: Evidence from Young U.S. Movers, 1992–2021

    By: Jacob R. Brown, Enrico Cantoni, Sahil Chinoy, Martin Koenen and Vincent Pons
    • October 2023
    • American Economic Journal: Applied Economics

    Coordination and Bandwagon Effects: How Past Rankings Shape the Behavior of Voters and Candidates

    By: Riako Granzier, Vincent Pons and Clémence Tricaud
    • September 2023
    • BMJ Global Health

    Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy: Experimental Evidence from Nine Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic

    By: Vincenzo Galasso, Vincent Pons, Paola Profeta, Martin McKee, David Stuckler, Michael Becher, Sylvain Brouard and Martial Foucault
More from the Authors
  • The Effect of Childhood Environment on Political Behavior: Evidence from Young U.S. Movers, 1992–2021 By: Jacob R. Brown, Enrico Cantoni, Sahil Chinoy, Martin Koenen and Vincent Pons
  • Coordination and Bandwagon Effects: How Past Rankings Shape the Behavior of Voters and Candidates By: Riako Granzier, Vincent Pons and Clémence Tricaud
  • Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy: Experimental Evidence from Nine Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic By: Vincenzo Galasso, Vincent Pons, Paola Profeta, Martin McKee, David Stuckler, Michael Becher, Sylvain Brouard and Martial Foucault
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