Campaign Advertising and American Democracy

Campaign Advertising and American Democracy explores the relationship between exposure to political advertisements and voter behaviour. Contrary to widely held beliefs, political ads do not turn people off to politics. Using evidence from two election cycles and covering House, Senate and Presidential campaigns, the authors show that ads disseminate information about the candidates and generate voter interest. Advertising even prompts voters to feel confident about the functioning of American democracy. The authors find little evidence that ads have adverse effects on voter behaviour; at worst, campaign advertising falls on deaf ears, rather than diminishes voters' interest in politics.