2022/09/04 by Johannes C. Buggle, Stephanos Vlachos · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Business, Management and Accounting · #Media Influence and Politics #Political Influence and Corporate Strategies #Electoral Systems and Political Participation
paper · doi:10.1093/ej/ueac056
openalex publication_date 2022/09/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Abstract This paper examines the effect of campaign appearances in the context of the one-sided nationwide tour by William J. Bryan, the Democratic US presidential candidate in 1896. During this electoral campaign, Bryan undertook an unprecedented whistle-stop train tour, while the Republican candidate followed a front-porch campaign. To identify the causal effect of campaign speeches, we exploit several estimation strategies, including a within-county difference-in-differences design and a neighbour-pair fixed effect estimator. We find that campaign visits by Bryan increased his vote share by about one percentage point on average. This increase likely stems from the persuasion of previously non-aligned industrial workers.