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Fields Changed

Registration

Field Before After
Last Published June 10, 2025 07:07 AM July 10, 2026 08:02 PM
Intervention Completion Date September 12, 2017
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization) 1,184
Was attrition correlated with treatment status? No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations 1,184
Public Data URL https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/GDOPMX
Program Files Yes
Program Files URL https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/GDOPMX
Data Collection Completion Date September 20, 2017
Is data available for public use? Yes
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Papers

Field Before After
Paper Abstract Are political activists driven by instrumental motives such as making a career in politics or mobilizing voters? We implement two natural field experiments in which party activists are randomly informed that canvassing is i) effective at mobilizing voters, or ii) effective for enhancing activists’ political careers. We find no effect of the treatments on activists’ intended and actual canvassing behaviour. The null finding holds despite a successful manipulation check and replication study, high statistical power, a natural field setting, and an unobtrusive measurement strategy. Using an expert survey, we show that the null finding shifted Bayesian posterior beliefs about the treatment’s effectiveness toward zero. The evidence thus casts doubt on two popular hypothesized instrumental drivers of political activism – voter persuasion and career concerns – and points toward expressive benefits as more plausible motives.
Paper Citation Hager A, Hensel L, Hermle J, Roth C. Political Activists are Not Driven by Instrumental Motives: Evidence from Two Natural Field Experiments. British Journal of Political Science. 2025;55:e88. doi:10.1017/S0007123424001029
Paper URL https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123424001029
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