Get Out the Vote: How to Increase Voter Turnout

by Donald P. Green, Alan S. Gerber

Overview

What are the most cost-effective ways to increase voter turnout? Whether the ambition is to win elections, promote civic engagement, or bolster the legitimacy of democratic institutions, this question is of enormous significance to those who run and study campaigns. Since the original edition appeared in 2004 Get Out the Vote has become the indispensable guide to understand how to mobilize voters. Combining information from their own extensive field research and the rapidly expanding number of studies conducted by a growing network of scholars and campaign consultants, Donald P. Green and Alan S. Gerber bring scientific rigor to the subject, challenging much of the conventional wisdom about what works and what doesn't in political campaigns. Updated to include the newest research and published in time for the 2024 election cycle, Get Out the Vote will again be the indispensable guide to voter mobilization for campaign managers, consultants, and activists across the political spectrum. In addition, Green and Gerber provide students an accessible introduction to campaign research methodology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815740636
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/08/2023
Edition description:	Fifth Edition
Pages:	246
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Donald P. Green is J.W. Burgess Professor of Political Science at Columbia University.
Alan S. Gerber is Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University and Director of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies.
Both authors are pioneers in the experimental study of voter turnout and have written widely on public opinion and elections.

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Introduction: Why Voter Mobilization Matters
2. Evidence versus Received Wisdom
3. Door-to-Door Canvassing
4. Leaflets and Signage
5. Direct Mail
6. Commercial Phone Banks, Volunteer Phone Banks, and Robocalls
7. Electronic Mail, Social Media, and Text Messaging
8. Using Events to Draw Voters to the Polls
9. Using Mass Media to Mobilize Voters
10. Voter Registration and Voter Turnout
11. Strategies for Effective Messaging
12. What Works, What Doesn’t, and What’s Next
Appendixes
A Meta-Analysis of Door-to-Door Canvassing Experiments
B Meta-Analysis of Direct Mail Experiments
C Meta-Analysis of Phone-Call Experiments
Notes
Index
About the Authors

Editorial Reviews

Green and Gerber have provided a valuable resource for grassroots campaigns across the spectrum.

National Journal

Green and Gerber are pioneers in the use of experimental design to investigate voter turnout. When the first edition of Get Out the Vote came out 20 years ago, it stood alone in the field of political campaigning for both focusing on get out the vote (GOTV) and basing its recommendations on scientific evidence. The fifth edition incorporates the breadth of similar research that has been conducted in the intervening years. In particular, it includes new ways organizers use technology and new findings on relational organizing. Previously, campaigns relied heavily on generic mailings and prerecorded phone messages to increase turnout; however, the evidence indicates mass appeals are ineffective. Rather, a personal interaction with an acquaintance is much more likely to prompt voters to go to the polls. The book carefully lays out the research leading to that conclusion, and in the process it illustrates how experiments can be conducted in the field to verify the effectiveness of new GOTV techniques. This book provides essential background for students and practitioners of political campaigning. Essential. General readers through faculty; professionals.

Choice Reviews

Get Out the Vote shatters conventional wisdom about GOTV.

Hal Malchow

Green and Gerber’s book represents important innovations in the study of turnout.

Political Science Review

Green and Gerber are pioneers in the use of experimental design to investigate voter turnout. When the first edition of Get Out the Vote came out 20 years ago, it stood alone in the field of political campaigning for both focusing on get out the vote (GOTV) and basing its recommendations on scientific evidence. The fifth edition incorporates the breadth of similar research that has been conducted in the intervening years. In particular, it includes new ways organizers use technology and new findings on relational organizing. Previously, campaigns relied heavily on generic mailings and prerecorded phone messages to increase turnout; however, the evidence indicates mass appeals are ineffective. Rather, a personal interaction with an acquaintance is much more likely to prompt voters to go to the polls. The book carefully lays out the research leading to that conclusion, and in the process it illustrates how experiments can be conducted in the field to verify the effectiveness of new GOTV techniques. This book provides essential background for students and practitioners of political campaigning. Essential. General readers through faculty; professionals.” —Choice Reviews

“I have adopted this book as required reading for my upper division campaigns and elections classes since it was first published in 2004. In the absence of careful monitoring by campaign management of the kind spelled out in this book, vendors of voter outreach services have every incentive to lie, exaggerate, and over promise. Reading Green and Gerber, students learn about the importance of measurement, monitoring and testing of all campaign efforts. They are also taught a more general and very sobering lesson of adult life: you can go to work every morning, thinking your efforts matter, when they really don't. And that's why careful measurement and testing are so important.” —James G. Gimpel, University of Maryland

“Green and Gerber have studied turnout for years. Their findings, based on dozens of controlled experiments done as part of actual campaigns, are summarized in . . . Get Out the Vote, which is bound to become a bible for politicians and activists of all stripes.” —Alan Krueger, New York Times

“Get Out the Vote shatters conventional wisdom about GOTV.” —Hal Malchow, Campaigns & Elections

“Green and Gerber have provided a valuable resource for grassroots campaigns across the spectrum.” —National Journal

“Green and Gerber’s book represents important innovations in the study of turnout.” —Political Science Review

“Get Out the Vote! is the rare book that manages to package cutting-edge social science on a keenly important topic in a completely approachable manner for all audiences. I’ve used this book for courses from beginning undergraduate lectures to graduate seminars. Some students are fascinated by the mechanics of campaigns and the range of different voter mobilization techniques examined. Some are struck by the inferential advantages of the field experiments that Green and Gerber champion. All appreciate the economical, non-technical presentation. And, the handful who have gone on to work on campaigns or run for office always tell me they consulted Get Out the Vote! during their races.” —Jonathan Krasno, professor of political science, Binghamton University

From the Publisher

I have adopted this book as required reading for my upper division campaigns and elections classes since it was first published in 2004. In the absence of careful monitoring by campaign management of the kind spelled out in this book, vendors of voter outreach services have every incentive to lie, exaggerate, and over promise. Reading Green and Gerber, students learn about the importance of measurement, monitoring and testing of all campaign efforts. They are also taught a more general and very sobering lesson of adult life: you can go to work every morning, thinking your efforts matter, when they really don't. And that's why careful measurement and testing are so important.

James G. Gimpel

Get Out the Vote! is the rare book that manages to package cutting-edge social science on a keenly important topic in a completely approachable manner for all audiences. I’ve used this book for courses from beginning undergraduate lectures to graduate seminars. Some students are fascinated by the mechanics of campaigns and the range of different voter mobilization techniques examined. Some are struck by the inferential advantages of the field experiments that Green and Gerber champion. All appreciate the economical, non-technical presentation. And, the handful who have gone on to work on campaigns or run for office always tell me they consulted Get Out the Vote! during their races.

Jonathan Krasno

Green and Gerber have studied turnout for years. Their findings, based on dozens of controlled experiments done as part of actual campaigns, are summarized in. .. Get Out the Vote, which is bound to become a bible for politicians and activists of all stripes.

Alan Krueger