Volunteer Voter Contact, Even from Afar, Helps Democrats Win
On August 1st, the New York Times published an opinion piece suggesting that progressive grassroots organizations that popped up post-2016 aren’t materially different from digital fundraising efforts used by large scale, top-down national groups and campaigns. The piece then argues that when those organizations offer volunteering opportunities, they are generally not a good use of […]
Votes to majority: State Legislative Chambers Often Decided by Narrow Margins
This analysis looks at a number of battleground state legislative chambers to determine how many votes Democrats would have needed in 2020 to gain a legislative majority in the districts that decided the majority.
“Identity politics”: Activating identity to gain political power
In this blog we will discuss the social psychological underpinnings of identity, and how appeals to identity are used in a variety of political contexts.
Under Pressure: Harnessing Social Norms and Social Pressure for Persuasion
Social norms are rules about ways of thinking and behaving that are deemed socially acceptable by one’s society. Read more about the different types of social pressures.
Persuasive politics: Cialdini’s principles of persuasion at work
Social psychology, and the work of Dr. Robert Cialdini and colleagues in particular, has had an outsized influence on modern-day political strategies. Here, we review the principles and talk about how they are used in politics.
State legislatures in the 2020 election: what happened?
None of the state chambers targeted by Democrats flipped in 2020. As in any complex system, many factors likely contributed to these results. Let’s take a look at three possible groups of explanations that may have contributed to state legislative outcomes: gerrymandering, roll-off/ticket-splitting, and enthusiasm/awareness gap. This analysis aims to describe what happened, but not […]
GOTV With Our Latest Research
Get Out More Votes, More Effectively The temperature is dropping, the leaves are changing, and pumpkins are popping up on front porches all over the nation. You know what that means: GOTV is here! GOTV, or “get out the vote,” marks a shift in campaign focus from persuading voters to vote for specific candidates or […]
Correlation vs. Causation: Tips for Reading Political Research Studies
You’ve probably heard the phrase “correlation does not equal causation” — but what does it mean? Here are some tips for reading Political Research Studies.
Sister District Alumni — Building the Progressive Policy Pipeline: Legislation Introduced (Not Passed)
This article focuses on proposed bills that failed to pass. Why bother? See the end of the article for more — but to eat dessert first: sometimes, as Morrissey says, “these things take time.” Introducing bills creates opportunities to respond to feedback, tweak, and reintroduce next session.
Get Out The Vote: Messaging For The Win
There are lots of field tactics to turn out voters, but any industry insider will tell you that a method is only as good as your message. In this post we review current recommendations for GOTV messaging, and research-based recommendations for messaging in general.
