Resource Type: Social Science Research

American’s external political efficacy – the belief that one can influence government decisions – has been on the decline over the last several decades. Greater involvement in civic associations may help to reverse this. Analyzing a panel dataset of several hundred environmental association members, this study found that as members got to know their association’s chapter leaders, external efficacy increased.

Be careful about emphasizing climate threats, as this can increase racism and xenophobia among certain people. People who are informed about the negative effects of climate change (such as wildfires, floods, resource scarcity, etc.) may become more hostile towards immigrants and less likely to support or value the pursuit of racial equity. This effect was stronger among those with a pre-existing belief that some groups in society should be able to dominate others.

What are the key audiences you need to reach and activate to build power? What does the evidence say is the most effective way to reach them? During this webinar, we will dig into audience-specific messaging research for key constituency groups and workshop specific messages to test within the context of our climate campaigns.
*Note: This webinar is the third in a series of 3 webinars on Communicating for Climate Action.

From August 2018 to November 2018 during the mid-term elections, approximately 5000 unique OUTVOTE users were able to send out approximately 132,000 GOTV messages. Treatment in this study was definited as receiving a GOTV message from an OUTVOTE user. Using statistical analysis, the study team wanted to dtermine the outcome and impact of friend-to-friend text messages on voter turnout using queue position in texting and the level of confidence in the voter file match. Individuals messaged by friends were 8.2% more likely to cast a vote, while those who were sent a mesagge by a field organizer had an increase of only 0.29%. 

Consider the range of motivations that bring people to climate protests when designing events and outreach. Interviews with 64 attendees at the September, 2019 climate strikes in Europe and North America revealed a great deal of variation in their knowledge levels, emotions and motivations. A surprising number were not very knowledgeable about climate change, only half had been involved in previous climate protests before, and a substantial minority were motivated by a general sense of solidarity and desire to be part of a protest movement, and not necessarily specific concern about climate. Among a diversity of emotions regarding climate change, fear and hope were the most common. The authors therefore developed a typology of climate protestors: Frontline, Responsible, Latent, Disengaged, Opportunistic, Parallel, and Sceptical.