IPR Research Notes

Political Campaigns in a 2.0 World

Fall 2008 , Volume 30, Number 2

James Druckman

Political campaigns are becoming more and more virtual as candidate Web sites have multiplied over the last decade. How do candidates’ Web sites affect their political messages? This question lies at the heart of research by political scientist and IPR Faculty Fellow James Druckman.

In one recent study, Druckman examined the online features of congressional candidates’ Web sites in the 2002 and 2004 elections with colleagues Martin Kifer of the University of Minnesota and Michael Parkin of Oberlin College. They divided Web technologies into two main categories—advanced presentation features, such as audio, video, or other visual effects; and interactive features, such as message boards, instant messaging, or personalized display settings.

While the costs of technology and support staff, in addition to the desire to appear user-friendly, are concerns that seem to influence all candidates, Druckman and his fellow researchers found that the closeness of the race was a pivotal factor in Web site designs. In a tight race, candidates usually drop the bells and whistles of interactive features, reasoning that doing so will preserve their campaign’s central message.

In another study, the researchers discovered that competition drives negativity in online campaigns. Data from congressional candidate Web sites in the 2000, 2002, and 2004 elections showed that close elections pushed more candidates to go negative against their opponents.

In noncompetitive races, the researchers found that challengers were much more likely than incumbents to attack their opponents, while frontrunners were significantly less likely to lash out. These findings coincide with prior research on voting behavior in non-competitive elections, when voters tend to go with what they already know—instead of investigating and deliberating over the candidates. Already known to the public, both incumbents and frontrunners often prefer to ride their advantage into office rather than risk bad reactions to political gibes.

To view the related papers, see www.northwestern.edu/ipr/publications/workingpapers/wp07.html.