ABSTRACT
At the heart of any discussion about persuasion and mobilization efforts by parties and candidates is the extent to which campaigns have any significant electoral impact at all. When thinking about electoral campaigns, a distinction is usually drawn between national and local campaigns. Demonstrating electoral effects of campaigns at the national level has always presented significant methodological challenges. Separate to the problems of accurately measuring the electoral impact of national campaigns, there has been a growing questioning of the assumption that campaign effects are confined to the national level. The most common approach taken to understanding the drivers and consequences of campaigning at the district level has involved the study of election spending by candidates and parties. Notwithstanding the concerns about the use of campaign spending, a significant comparative literature has developed since the early work of Jacobson, suggesting that campaigning efforts by political parties and candidates impact positively, in terms of both mobilization and turnout.
