XII.    Do Negative Campaign Ads Have Negative Effects?

1. Stephen Ansolabehere, Shanto Iyengar, Adam Simon, and Nicholas Valentino, "Does Attack Advertising Demobilize the Electorate?" American Political Science Review, 1994, 88(4): 829-838. AND Ansolabehere, Stephen D., Shanto Iyengar, and Adam Simon. "Replicating Experiments Using Aggregate and Survey Data: The Case of Negative Advertising and Turnout." American Political Science Review, , Vol. 93, December 1999, 901.
2. “Do Negative Campaigns Mobilize or Suppress Turnout? Clarifying the Relationship between Negativity and Participation.” Kim Fridkin Kahn and Patrick J. Kenney. American Political Science Review, , Vol. 93, December 1999, 877.
3. Freedman, Paul; Franz, Michael; Goldstein, Kenneth. “Campaign Advertising and Democratic Citizenship.” American Journal of Political Science, Oct 2004.
4. Ted Brader. “Striking a Responsive Chord: How Political Ads Motivate and Persuade Voters by Appealing to Emotions.” American Journal of Political Science, 2005. Volume 49 Issue 2

· Stephen Ansolabehere, Shanto Iyengar, Adam Simon, and Nicholas Valentino, “Does Attack Advertising Demobilize the Electorate?” American Political Science Review, 1994, 88(4): 829-838.

· Ansolabehere, Stephen D., Shanto Iyengar, and Adam Simon. "Replicating Experiments Using Aggregate and Survey Data: The Case of Negative Advertising and Turnout." American Political Science Review, , Vol. 93, December 1999, 901.

1. How would you rate the realism and verisimilitude of A, et al’s experiments?
2. What are the advantages of using experiments to investigate effects of negative ads, if any? Is it better to use experiments or survey data, a la Kahn and Kenny?
3. Why are negative ads hypothesized to decrease turnout?
4. In what types of elections (or conditions) would you expect negative ads to have maximum effect?

· Do Negative Campaigns Mobilize or Suppress Turnout? Clarifying the Relationship between Negativity and Participation Kim Fridkin Kahn and Patrick J. Kenney 877

1. How do they define and measure “negative tone” and “mudslinging?”
1. Is their definition of “inappropriate and irrelevant” precise enough to measure?
2. Is their measure of mudslinging likely to be reliable? Do campaign managers have a higher threshold for evaluating mudslinging than ordinary citizens, especially those less engaged?
2. How would you evaluate their design? Is survey data with district forces superior to experimental data or just another way of triangulating different methods to enhance confidence in findings?
3. Do their results jibe with other studies?

· Ted Brader. “Striking a Responsive Chord: How Political Ads Motivate and Persuade Voters by Appealing to Emotions.” American Journal of Political Science, 2005. Volume 49 Issue 2

1. How have past studies of the influence of emotions in political science been limited by the use of survey research and how successful is Brader in overcoming those limitations?
2. What are some of the strengths (and weaknesses) of Brader’s design for examining the influence of emotions?
3. What should the next generation of research look like for studying the influence of emotions in political ads?

· Freedman, Paul; Franz, Michael; Goldstein, Kenneth. “Campaign Advertising and Democratic Citizenship.” American Journal of Political Science, Oct 2004

1. How does the authors’ measure of ad exposure improve upon prior studies? What are some of the strengths and limitations, in your view?
2. In what ways does the study go against the conventional wisdom about the influence of campaign ads on the acquisition of political information in a campaign?
3. Critique the authors’ measure of information gain. What needs to be done in this area to make a broader assessment of the role of “Campaign Advertising and Democratic Citizenship?” as reflected in citizens’ political knowledge?