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Activation, Conversion, or Reinforcement? The Impact of Partisan News Exposure on Vote Choice

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  • Susanna Dilliplane

Abstract

This study uses multiwave panel data from the 2008 presidential election to investigate the impact of partisan news exposure on changes in vote preferences over time. Overcoming key limitations of prior research, the analysis distinguishes among the potential effects originally delineated by Lazarsfeld and colleagues (): (1) activation—motivating partisans who initially say they are undecided or planning to defect to shift their vote back to their own party's candidate; (2) conversion—motivating partisans to shift their vote to the opposing party's candidate; and (3) reinforcement—strengthening partisans’ preference for their initial vote choice. The results reveal only modest evidence that partisan news reinforces existing vote preferences. Surprisingly, partisan news plays a more robust role motivating changes in vote choice: news slanted toward citizens’ own partisanship increased the odds of activation and decreased the odds of conversion, while news slanted away from citizens’ own partisanship proved a strong counterforce working in the opposite direction.

Suggested Citation

  • Susanna Dilliplane, 2014. "Activation, Conversion, or Reinforcement? The Impact of Partisan News Exposure on Vote Choice," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 58(1), pages 79-94, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:58:y:2014:i:1:p:79-94
    DOI: 10.1111/ajps.12046
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    Cited by:

    1. Choe, Chongwoo & Raschky, Paul A., 2016. "Media, institutions, and government action: Prevention vs. palliation in the time of cholera," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 75-93.
    2. David Bartolini & Agnese Sacchi & Domenico Scalera & Alberto Zazzaro, 2023. "Voters’ Distance, Information Bias and Politicians’ Salary," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 9(2), pages 637-664, July.
    3. Conroy-Krutz, Jeffrey, 2018. "Media exposure and political participation in a transitional African context," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 224-242.
    4. Barbara Gomez‐Aguinaga, 2021. "One Group, Two Worlds? Latino Perceptions of Policy Salience Among Mainstream and Spanish‐Language News Consumers," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(1), pages 238-258, January.

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