Going Negative (Paperback)

~ Stephen Ansolabehere (Author), Shanto Iyengar (Author) "Once upon a time, this country divided itself neatly along party lines..." (more)
Key Phrases: net trait ratings, new government ethics rules, advertising tone, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Bruce Herschensohn (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Political advertising has been called the worst cancer in American society. Ads cost millions, and yet the entire campaign season is now filled with nasty and personal attacks. In this landmark six-year study, two of the nation's leading political scientists show exactly how cancerous the ad spot has become. 16 illustrations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (August 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684837110
• ISBN-13: 978-0684837116
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #686,100 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book about effects of campaign ads, January 12, 2002

By	Eric (Huntingdon Valley, PA United States) - See all my reviews

I read this book about a year and a half ago, so some details are sketchy to me. But I wholehartedly disagree with the reviewer who thought this book was no good, and that it simply reflected the author's biases. However, I do agree that the author's proposed solutions are not as good as their informative and balanced account of negative campaign advertising.

While one might have alternative interpretations of the political survey data, and question the external validity of the author's controlled experiments, the authors do an excellent job of presenting the major issues in evaluating negative campaign advertising. I would highly reccommend this book to get a sense of the research being done about campaign advertising, and Ansolebehre and Iyengar are well-respected and clearly knowledgeable scholars. I won't get into all the specifics of the book; you should read it for yourself!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Negative ads cause cynicism, July 28, 2002

By	Pumpkin King - See all my reviews

This book begins with an interesting thesis, which you can read about in detail in chapters 5 and 6. The authors claim that while political advertising in general has the effects of educating the public by informing voters about the candidates and the issues, negative ads can lead to decreased voter participation. Those who remain voters will tend to be more extreme in ideology and less representative of the general public. The concern in this book is that the rise in negative campaigns can subvert the democratic process.

Strangely, to get to their main point, you must wade through pretty dry chapters that discuss the methods used to gather data as well as other ways that advertisements affect voter behavior. This may be of great interest to political scientists, but for those with only partial interest, it is probably enough to read the first, fifth, and sixth chapters to get the main gist of the book.

5.0 out of 5 stars If you need to understand 'negative,' this is the book, October 5, 2006

By	Bruce (Cleburne, TX) - See all my reviews

An outstanding book for the political operative that explains, via social science and quantitative data, the appropriate use and likely effects of negative or comparative messaging.