Customer Reviews

Get Out the Vote!: How to Increase Your Voter Turnout

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Surprising conclusions...except, not really.

It is good that some of this stuff has worked out, but a lot of it could be articulated by most people who spend time on GOTV. Political contact works better the more it is like a face-to-face conversation about information relevant to the person's life.

Hence, door-to-door canvassing is the most effective. Not surprising.

Phones come in second. Not surprising.

The more conversational and informational the phone call is, the more effective is. Still not surprising.

But this book is also a somewhat daunting reminder of just how difficult a good GOTV effort is. Virtually every one of their models pans out to about one additional voter for every hour of voter contact. Boy am I looking forward to next weekend.

Donald Green and Alan Gerber have done something that political professionals have failed to do. They have actually measured what works and does not work in GOTV. The results are sobering, enlightening and, above all, invaluable to any campaign manager who wants to get the most from his campaign dollars.

This book is very important for campaign workers for the simple reason that it provides statistical proof of "common sense" assumptions about campaigning. Perhaps more importantly, it also demonstrates to first time candidates & campaign workers that some highly-touted gimmicks DON'T work and are a waste of money. It seems to me well worth the price of the book to know how not to waste a campaign's time & money.

If you've worked in politics, especially field, there aren't any revelations. It's pretty straight-forward, proving common sense (reaching out to neglected voters is more effective than talking to voters who've already been contacted, canvassing beats calling beats mailing, etc), but the data is fascinating and their analysis is spot-on.

This small book does not much, but it does, what it claims, and it does it in a scientific manner. After pointing out the importance of voter mobilization, Donald P Green gives an overview of five commonly used ways believed to increase voter turnout: Door-to-Door Canvassing, Leaflets, Direct Mail, Phone Banks and Electronic mail.
For the ones used to local campaigns (even outside the us), nothing of this is specifically new. Green however backs his claims about the influence of any of the five ways to increase voter turnout by more or less robust field research results. So he delivers facts (or at least probability...) instead of guessing. This is what makes this small book an outstanding one in comparison to many "campaign manager manuals" which commonly end up telling a bunch of anecdotes about past campaigns.

This book should be mandatory reading for anybody planning or executing a campaign. It spells the latest scientific observations on what moves or does not move the electorate during the get out the vote period. I am using this data for my race for County Commissioner and for political planning in general.

then you need to read this book and hope that your competition doesn't.

Whether you're new to politics or have been involved for years, this book will educate you on the most efficient campaign tactics, and where you should focus your precious time and resources.

Green and Gerber present scientific studies that show what a complete waste of time and money certain widely-used campaign tactics are, while other less-utilized maneuvers are proven to be highly effective.

This book is often cited on political discussion blogs, and for good reason.

Also available in a hardcover edition, Get Out The Vote!: How To Increase Voter Turnout is a no-nonsense guide for anyone striving to mobilize voters. Written by two professors of political science and experts on political campaigns, elections, and research methodology, Get Out The Vote! covers such motivating means as door-to-door canvassing, leaflets, direct mail, phone banks, electronic mail, and more. Written to be as useful for non-specialist general readers striving to motivate a grass-roots political campaign as well as a seminal instruction guide to political experts planning to win a large-scale race, Get Out The Vote! offers a wealth of solid, easy-to-understand wisdom straight from the horse's mouth.