Experimental Approaches to the Study of Political Participation

Abstract

This chapter discusses the contribution of experiments to the study of political participation. It illustrates the increased usage of experiments in political science and sociology over the last three decades and moves the discussion of experiments beyond traditional distinctions between lab, field, and survey, highlighting studies with creative designs in terms of their setting, subject pool, intervention type, and outcome measurement. Experimental studies have enabled scholars of political participation to make stronger causal claims, testing nuanced theoretical mechanisms. One particularly exciting body of experimental work highlights the role of others in decisions to participate—to turn out to vote, donate money, sign petitions, or engage in other forms of collective action—and has started to investigate the subtle mechanisms at play in social influence, such as informational cues, social norms, and a need to belong. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the promises and pitfalls of political participation experiments.