The Unbearable Lightness of Information

.The United States presents an unusual case in which to study the relevance of political information. Citizens are asked to vote far more often than in the typical democracy; over a four year period over 20 separate elections may be held. Voter turnout varies dramatically across these elections and across localities. When researchers study low turnout elections, especially among those who vote in some elections but not in others, one of the reasons often cited by voters for failing to vote is their lack of knowledge concerning the candidates and issues. We report the results of an experiment done in conjunction with a non-partisan political organization around state and local elections in Texas and Wisconsin where voters are presented with objective information on candidates and urged to participate in the democratic process. Information is provided via a Candidates’ Answers Voting Guide (4000 separate mailings), via 6000 postcards urging voters to go to a website for further information on the candidates, and via Facebook ads presented to hundreds of thousands of citizens urging them to get more information. This study, by using a location where the citizenry is rich in terms of political resources (Dane County, Wisconsin) along with a second location with consistently lower resource levels (EL Paso, Texas) provides a good test of whether the effectiveness of providing additional information is sensitive to the political resources of those receiving the information. Initial analyses find that providing greater information has a statistically insignificant effect in both contexts. Voters show no interest in greater information whether they are relatively resource rich or resource poor. Providing information alone is insufficient to motivate turnout.