Campaign Advertising and American Democracy

Campaign Advertising and American Democracyexplores the relationship between exposure to political advertisements and voter behaviour. Contrary to widely held beliefs, political ads do not turn people off to politics. Using evidence from two election cycles and covering House, Senate and Presidential campaigns, the authors show that ads disseminate information about the candidates and generate voter interest. Advertising even prompts voters to feel confident about the functioning of American democracy. The authors find little evidence that ads have adverse effects on voter behaviour; at worst, campaign advertising falls on deaf ears, rather than diminishes voters' interest in politics.

Michael M. Franz is Assistant Professor of Government and Legal Studies at Bowdoin College.  His research interests include political advertising, interest groups politics, campaign finance reform, and mass media.  He has published articles in American Journal of Political Science, Political Communication, Political Analysis, Political Behavior, and Social Science Quarterly.

Paul B. Freedman is Associate Professor in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia.  His work has appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Public Opinion Quarterly, Political Communication, Campaigns and Elections, and Slate. Since 2000, he has been an election analyst for ABC News in New York.

Kenneth M. Goldstein is Professor of Political Science at University of Wisconsin-Madison.  In addition to publishing widely in academic outlets, his reputation for unbiased and non-partisan analysis has made him a favorite source for the national news media.  He has appeared on numerous network and cable news broadcasts as well as being quoted extensively in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.  He is currently a member of the ABC News Election Night Decision team.

Travis N. Ridout is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Washington State University in Pullman. His research on political campaigns and advertising has appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, Political Behavior, The Annual Review of Political Science and several other journals. He also has served as an election night consultant for CBS News.