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“On the Campaign Trail: The Electoral Effects of Leader Visits”

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  • Davis, Brent

Abstract

The campaign trail is an integral part of most elections. In an Australian federal election, it means the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader engage in a strategic program of visits, both to ‘our seats’ (the one’s we want to hold on to) and ‘their seats’ (the one’s we want to take from the other party). This article is the first to examine visits by multiple, competing political leaders in an election, in a Westminster system. Using a unique data set from the 2013 Australian federal election, there appears to be a non-random, strategic approach to the selection of seats visited by political leaders. However, using a counterfactual analysis, leader visits do not appear to have a major impact in determining the broader outcome of the election, although the absence of leader visits could have changed the outcome in a number of ALP Government-held seats.

Suggested Citation

  • Davis, Brent, 2016. "“On the Campaign Trail: The Electoral Effects of Leader Visits”," MPRA Paper 75330, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:75330
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shaw, Daron R., 1999. "The Effect of TV Ads and Candidate Appearances on Statewide Presidential Votes, 1988–96," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 93(2), pages 345-361, June.
    2. King, David & Morehouse, David, 2004. "Moving Voters in the 2000 Presidential Campaign: Local Visits, Local Media," Working Paper Series rwp04-003, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    election campaigns; permanent campaign; vote behaviour; Australian elections;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

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