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Melissa R Michelson, David W Nickerson

Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science

422

16. Voter Mobilization Page 433 422 16. Voter Mobilization Melissa R. Michelson and David W. Nickerson Civic participation is an essential component of a healthy democracy. Voting allows citizens to communicate preferences to elected officials and influence who holds public office. At the same time, deficiencies and asymmetries of participation in the United States call into question the representativeness of elected officials and public policies. i Yet, while political activity is crucial for the equal protection of interests, participation is often seen by individuals as irrational or excessively costly, and it is well known that turnout in the US lags well behind that of other democracies. Scholars have consistently found that participation is linked to socioeconomic variables, psychological orientations, and recruitment. Candidates, parties and organizations thus spend considerable effort mobilizing electoral activity. This chapter …