Resource Type: Field Research

One of the seminal studies of the influence of face-to-face contact on voter turnout, this paper from 2000 by Alan Gerber and Donald Green shows that in-person contact substantial increases voter turnout, while the effect of direct mail is slight, and that of live phonecalls is nonexistent. This randomized controlled trial of 30,000 voters in Connecticut showed statistically significant effects of canvassing, results that have been replicated several times since this study was published.  The authors also claim support for their hypothesis that the long-term decline in voter turnout observed to that point was due in part to the decline in face-to-face political mobilization.             

Climate change has been in the news – and likely casual conversations – a great deal recently, with wildfires raging across California, the repeal of the Clean Power Plan, and the ongoing recovery from hurricane-ravaged communities across the Caribbean and Gulf Coast.  
 
Since sharing what is working on our campaigns seems like an effective antidote to despair, Lab members met in Washington D.C. last week for a workshop focused on research and experimentation results from across the community.