The Polarizing Effects of Persuasive Communication: Evidence from Turkey

• In Event: Censorship, Propaganda, and Transparency

Abstract

This study shows how efforts in persuasive communication affect voter participation in the deterioration of democratic norms in Turkey. First, I estimate the average effect of two randomized door-to-door campaigns on voter behavior in a referendum to weaken constraints on the executive branch. I also test for a polarized electorate among over 260,000 voters reached by the campaigns. The opposition party delivered messages on either economy and terrorism related policy outcomes or implications of the institutional change. Each campaign had a zero average effect on vote share, but increased political polarization due to heterogeneous effects that persisted fourteen months later.

Author

• Ceren Baysan