Year: 2005
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This dissertation seeks to understand the language and emotional appeals that \nconstitute voter mobilization messages, often called get-out-the-vote or GOTV. Much \nscholarly attention has been given to voter mobilization efforts due to their prominence \non the political landscape. These studies focus on the ultimate effect of mobilization: \nbehavior. Yet, because mobilization messages are intended as persuasive rhetorical acts, \ntheir language deserves just as much attention as any behavioral outcome. \nWhat the present study sought to add to the mobilization research literature was \nan understanding of the linguistic choices made during mobilization drives. It examined \nmobilization messages sent out from distinct GOTV campaigns to seven different \ndemographic groups over the course of two years. Analysis of these messages helped \nreveal several unexpected linguistic patterns. First, mobilization groups did not adapt \ntheir messages to the tastes of specific audience groups. Instead, mobilization \ncharacteristics emerged which included a balanced emotional tone, a focus on social \nneeds, choice of metaphor as a primary language strategy, and certainty when depicting \nsocial and political issues. Further investigation revealed that mobilizers both selected \nand structured in the same manner four distinct emotional appeal types regardless the \naudience being addressed. Most surprisingly were the results that showed that \nmobilization messages contained very few requests for action from the audience. The \nGOTV efforts that fell outside the bounds of some of the above linguistic and emotional \nappeals were campaigns targeted toward youth. While youth-oriented campaigns shared \nthe aims of other mobilization groups, the construction of their messages appeared to be \nshaped by the nature of the relationship between the mobilizer and the audience in a \nmanner distinct from other mobilization campaigns. Each of these findings and their \nimplications for future language-based as well as effects-oriented GOTV studies is \ndetailed in the dissertation, whose primary goal is to shift the scholarly trend of \nunderstanding mobilization from a strictly effects-based focus to include a spotlight on \nlanguage.
Author: Joanne Sawyer
Language: English
Subfield: Communication
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1931011445