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Changing levels of political information in 1988 and 1990

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Abstract

The 1988 and 1990 National Election Studies indicate that the public is less politically informed in a low-stimulus election year than after a high-stimulus campaign. Although the same factors are responsible for what people know in each year, the process of becoming informed in an information-poor environment is slightly different than in an information-rich atmosphere. The data also show that, just as Angus Campbell's surge and decline theory predicts, “core” voters are slightly more knowledgeable than “peripheral” voters.

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Bennett, S.E. Changing levels of political information in 1988 and 1990. Polit Behav 16, 1–20 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01541640

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