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bias of the electorate (Berinsky 2005). Contacting peripheral voters -- those less reliable
and inherently less likely to vote – were seen as risky investments. Recent
improvements in contacting technology coupled with new commitments to grassroots
mobilization strategies have certainly resulted in higher levels of turnout for the
battleground states (Campbell 2005). To the extent that the Republican and Democratic
parties reached beyond their safe middle-class, middle-aged constituencies to contact
younger voters, less affluent voters, weak partisans and independents, it seems possible
that battleground status (and the contacting efforts that go on in these states) may
indeed diversify the electorate in significant ways. In summary, our theoretical
expectations are that campaign activities and party contacting -- especially of the
impressive magnitude experienced in battleground states – may enhance learning and
should certainly enhance the number and diversity of those who participate.
Research Design
We use the American National Election Studies (NES 2005; 2001) to test our
hypotheses. We are interested in identifying the differences in interest, the accuracy of
political perceptions, and the levels of political involvement between those that reside in
battleground states and those who live in uncontested states where campaigns devote
little, if any, attention. In particular, we focus our analyses on those peripheral voters
who come to the campaign with less experience, fewer resources, lower levels of interest
and lower propensities to become politically involved. We examine the extent to which
campaigns matter for those who are typically the most difficult to engage.
Convention