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Civic Engagement
Increasing Voter Turnout: What, If Anything, Can Be Done?
Lessons from the voter turnout series, a collaboration between the Hewlett Foundation and SSIR.
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Civic Engagement
Boost Turnout in Primaries By Targeting ‘November-Only Voters’
A recent get-out-the-vote experiment shows that turnout in primaries can be cost-effectively enlarged and broadened by targeting voters who only vote in general elections and who are often ignored by campaigns.
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Civic Engagement
Encouraging Millennials to Vote for the Issues That Unite Them
Building on a quarter century of get-out-the-vote efforts, MTV’s 2016 “Elect This” campaign will encourage young people to vote in support of the polices that inspire them, rather than the political system that doesn’t.
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Civic Engagement
The Importance of Increasing Turnout in Congressional Primaries
Higher voter turnout in those primaries would help prevent polarization and encourage a well-functioning legislature.
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Civic Engagement
Do We Actually Want Higher Youth Voter Turnout?
Young people can be more engaged in politics, but major institutions must actually want that to happen.
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Social Issues
Increase Turnout by Informing Voters about Policy Differences
More people would vote (and a more diverse group of people would vote) if they knew more about candidates’ fundamental policy positions.
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Social Issues
Getting Out the Vote Is Tougher Than You Think
Recent randomized field trials provide evidence that most get out the vote mobilization efforts have very modest effects on voter turnout, much less than previously thought.
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Civic Engagement
Creating an Engaged Citizenry Through Voting
Americans for Prosperity Foundation works to make sure that the message of doing your civic duty by voting hits home.
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Social Issues
Community Culture Is a Big Driver in Voter Turnout
Voter turnout can vary widely across states and within cities and counties, even when structural factors are the same. A shared sense of responsibility among residents for taking care of their communities may be part of the explanation.
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Civic Engagement
Human-Centered Design for the Voting Experience
IDEO brings a human-centered design lens to voting in Los Angeles County—and finds compelling opportunities to increase participation nationally.
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Civic Engagement
A New Approach to Reversing the Downward Spiral of Low Turnout
To increase voter turnout, other approaches are needed—ones intended not to inflame passions about what may be at stake in a particular election but instead to connect more voters to the process of voting and to the value of participating in our democracy.
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Civic Engagement
Making Voting Easier Doesn’t Increase Turnout
To the surprise of many, making the act of voting easier hasn’t actually led to higher voter turnout. To increase turnout, we need to get more people interested in politics.
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Civic Engagement
Strengthening Democracy by Embracing a Multi-Party System
Changing from winner-take-all single member districts, which limit voters' choices and races' competitiveness, to a multi-party system could significantly increase voter turnout.
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Civic Engagement
Automatic Voter Registration Boosts Political Participation
Studies of voter registration systems around the world and recent reforms in the United States suggest that automatic voter registration can significantly increase registration rates and enhance turnout.
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Civic Engagement
The Role of Philanthropy and Nonprofits in Increasing US Voter Turnout
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Stanford Social Innovation Review have partnered to publish a 15-part series of articles exploring whether and how philanthropy and nonprofits can improve US voter turnout and civic participation.
Civic Engagement
Increasing Voter Turnout: It’s Tougher Than You Think
In 2016, political parties, candidates, and interest groups will spend an estimated $10 billion on the US presidential election. Yet despite this massive spending, voter turnout is expected to remain modest. (In the 2014 national election, only 36 percent of registered voters turned out to vote, the lowest level in 72 years.) Nonprofits and philanthropy have long been working toward boosting voter registration and turnout—often viewed as vital components of a robust civil society and democracy.
In this 15-part series, election experts from government, academia, and the private and nonprofit sectors will weigh in on important questions, including: What can the social sector do to improve voter turnout in the United States? What are the distinctive goals the social sector is equipped to achieve relative to what parties and candidates are already doing? Which kinds of new or established interventions are most likely to improve turnout, and which groups of citizens might they impact most? And how much impact can the social sector realistically expect to have?
This series was co-curated with Kelly Born of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and will include contributions from Adam Berinsky at MIT, Kate Lydon at IDEO, George Cheung at the Joyce Foundation, Elaine Kamarck at Brookings Institution, and others. #turnoutvoters
