Abstract Competitive, vigorous campaigns have been shown to increase participation across a variety of elections, including those at the state and local level. Building on previous work that examines the impact of money in judicial elections, this study explores the impact of campaign effort on participation in state court elections. Using data from 260 state Supreme Court elections occurring from 1990 to 2004 across 18 states, I find that competitive campaigns—not just expensive ones—are important for encouraging participation in these contests. Additionally, the study uncovers differential effects of challenger and incumbent spending. Ultimately, the findings contribute to our understanding of campaign effects in judicial elections while also providing an additional test of the idea that campaigns matter, especially in low-information contests.

中文翻译：

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一切都是为了钱吗？竞选活动如何促进州法院选举的参与

摘要 竞争激烈的竞选活动已被证明可以提高各种选举的参与度，包括州和地方级别的选举。本研究以先前研究金钱对司法选举影响的工作为基础，探讨竞选努力对参与州法院选举的影响。使用从 1990 年到 2004 年发生在 18 个州的 260 次州最高法院选举的数据，我发现竞争性竞选活动（不仅仅是昂贵的竞选活动）对于鼓励参与这些竞赛很重要。此外，该研究揭示了挑战者和现任支出的不同影响。最终，这些发现有助于我们理解司法选举中的竞选效应，同时也提供了对竞选活动重要的想法的额外测试，尤其是在低信息竞赛中。