Negative ads turns voters away from polls, study says
By Tiffany McElroy
Daily Bruin Contributor
Negative political advertising undermines American democracy and
decreases voter turnout, UCLA researchers concluded.
Political science Professor Shanto Iyengar and former political
science Professor Stephen Ansolabehere, have found that negative
political advertising turns voters away from the polls on election
day.
"Negative campaigning has negative consequences for America.
Attack advertising contributes to a passive and cynical electorate.
It increases the belief that politics are corrupt and undermines
citizens’ willingness to participate in the democratic process,"
Iyengar said.
The four-year study consisted of experiments in which more than
3,000 potential Southern Californian voters participated.
Participants were shown a 15-minute video tape of local
newscasts, whose commercial breaks contained both positive and
negative political ads. All studies were completed during actual
campaigns so that ads would not seem out of the ordinary.
After each study, participants were given a questionnaire
requesting their views on issues, candidates, voting and politics.
Those who had seen negative ads were much less likely to say their
votes mattered or were even worth casting.
"There is nothing new about negative campaigning. It has been
around since the days of Jefferson," said Michael Dukakis, a
visiting public policy professor and former presidential candidate.
"The only difference is that in modern day elections, advertising
is on television, and there is no way one can do an advertisement
in 30 seconds that does not distort the truth."
Iyengar and Ansolabehere also analyzed more than two dozen
Senate campaigns, and found that voter turnout was 5 percent higher
in races where candidates offered a positive message than those
which attacked opposing campaigns.
A candidate’s strategy is to get the majority of the vote to
win. Therefore, "some candidates may want a smaller turnout, hoping
to limit the electorate to strong partisans. Politicians don’t care
about what voters think – they just want to be elected," said David
Sears, professor of psychology and political science.
The study also found negative campaigning brings voters back to
their partisan roots, Ansolabehere said. But it also makes the
independent voter more cynical about politics and the political
process, he added.
"Republicans developed the strategy on attack advertising, but
negative advertising has characterized American politics since the
days of Abraham Lincoln," Iyengar said.
Many politicians attack their opponents and do not address
social problems. This, in turn leads to a backlash with potential
voters staying away on election day," researchers concluded.
"Senator Dole is having grave difficulties getting votes because
he has yet to articulate a positive message," Iyengar said.
"Buchanan has made a stance with a very positive message to his
constituents. He stands for protectionism – people are now
responding to that vision. But Dole attacks Buchanan without saying
what he himself stands for," he added.
Negative advertising poses a dilemma in the strategy for winning
an election, according to participants of the study.
"You don’t want to censor or prohibit a candidate from saying
negative things about other candidates," said Adam Simon, a
graduate political science student and a participant in the
study.
Simon added that if Dole were to say that Buchanan was a racist
and it was true, the public would have a right to know.
However, Iyengar said that politicians may soon realize that
negative ads are anti-democratic because they keep people from
voting.
"Negative ads turn people off, not just from candidates but from
the entire process," Iyengar said. "(Negative ads) transform
elections into a spectator sport."Comments to
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