Political scientist: To increase voter turnout in the upcoming municipal election, the city council mailed an information packet to all registered voters detailing the policy positions of the mayoral candidates. The council predicts turnout will increase, reasoning that voters who understand candidates' platforms are more likely to participate. However, behavioral studies show that providing voters with highly detailed policy comparisons generally increases their perception of ideological overlap among candidates. Because voters are significantly less likely to vote when they perceive little ideological difference between candidates, the council’s initiative will actually result in lower overall voter turnout than there would have been without the mailer.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the political scientist's argument depends?
- Any increase in voter turnout resulting from voters gaining a better understanding of the candidates' platforms will not exceed the decrease in turnout caused by the increased perception of ideological overlap.Answer
- BIf voters are provided with highly detailed policy comparisons, they will inevitably perceive less ideological difference between the candidates than they did prior to reading the comparisons.
- CThe information packet mailed by the city council contains the only information that most voters will evaluate regarding the ideological differences among the mayoral candidates.
- DVoters who do not receive highly detailed policy comparisons are unlikely to perceive a significant degree of ideological overlap among local mayoral candidates.
- EThe behavioral studies demonstrating the effects of highly detailed policy comparisons were conducted exclusively on voters participating in municipal elections.