Books
Political Advertising in the United States. (with Travis Ridout and Erika Franklin Fowler) 2016. Westview Press. [Amazon]
[Reviewed in Choice and Perspectives on Politics]
[See our YouTube channel associated with the book.]
*2nd edition through 2020 election now available from Routledge. [Amazon]
Interest Groups in American Campaigns: The New Face of Electioneering 3rd edition, (with Mark Rozell and Clyde Wilcox). 2012. New York: Oxford University Press. [Amazon]
The Persuasive Power of Campaign Advertising (with Travis Ridout). 2011. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press [Amazon]
[Reviewed in Perspectives on Politics, Political Communication, Campaigns and Elections, Party Politics, Choice]
[See my blog post on the book here.]
Campaign Advertising and American Democracy (with Kenneth Goldstein, Travis Ridout, and Paul Freedman). 2007. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press [Amazon]
[Selected by Choice as a Significant University Press Title for Undergraduates, 2007-2008]
[Reviewed in Party Politics, Political Science Quarterly, Choice, and The Journal of Politics]
Choices and Changes: Interest Groups in the Electoral Process. 2008. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press [Amazon]
[Reviewed in Party Politics, Election Law Journal, Political Science Quarterly, and Campaigns and Elections]
Articles (* indicates peer-reviewed article)
Laura Edelson, Jason Chuang, Erika Franklin Fowler, Michael M. Franz, and Travis Ridout. 2021, “A Standard for Universal Digital Ad Transparency,” Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.
Travis Ridout, Erika Franklin Fowler, and Michael Franz. 2021. “Spending Fast and Furious: Political Advertising in 2020,” The Forum. Online Journal.
*Travis Ridout, Michael Franz, and Erika Franklin Fowler. 2021. “The Influence of Goals and Timing: How Campaigns Deploy Ads on Facebook,” Journal of Information Technology & Politics. Published Online First.
Michael Franz. 2020. “Political Advertising Now and Then: Assessing The Top Political Ads in American History.” Advertising and Society Quarterly. 21(3).
[Digital collection of ads covered in article: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/780908]
*Michael Franz. 2020. “FEC Divided: Measuring Conflict in Commission Votes Since 1990,” Election Law Journal.
*Gregory Martin, Travis Ridout, Michael Franz, Erika Franklin Fowler, and Zachary Peskowitz. Forthcoming. “Political Advertising Online and Offline,” American Political Science Review.
[Replication data]
*Michael M. Franz, Erika Franklin Fowler, Travis N. Ridout. 2020. “Accessing Information About Interest Group Advertising,” Interest Groups & Advocacy.
*Michael Franz, Erika Franklin Fowler, Travis Ridout, and Meredith Yiran Wang. 2019. “The Issue Focus of Online and Television Advertising in the 2016 Presidential Campaign,” American Politics Research.
*Erika Franklin Fowler, Michael Franz, and Travis Ridout,” 2019. “The Blue Wave: Assessing Political Advertising Trends and Democratic Advantages in 2018,” PS: Political Science and Politics.
*Samuel Rhodes, Michael Franz, Erika Franklin Fowler, and Travis Ridout. 2019. “The Role of Dark Money Disclosure on Candidate Evaluations and Viability,” Election Law Journal. 18(2): 175-190.
Michael Franz. 2018. “A Teaching Framework for Political Advertising,” Advertising and Society Quarterly. 19(2).
*Travis Ridout, Erika Franklin Fowler, Michael Franz, and Ken Goldstein. 2018. “The Long-Term and Geographically-Constrained Effects of Campaign Advertising on Political Polarization and Sorting,” American Politics Research. 46(1): 3-25.
[A shorter version of the research posted here.]
*Travis Ridout, Erika Franklin Fowler, Taewoo Kang, and Michael Franz. 2018. “Issue Consistency? Comparing Television Advertising, Tweets and Email in the 2014 Senate Campaigns,” Political Communication. 35(1): 32-49.
*Michael Franz. 2017. “Considering the Expanding Role of Interest Groups in American Presidential Elections.” Interest Groups & Advocacy. 6(1): 112-120.
Erika Franklin Fowler, Travis Ridout, and Michael Franz. 2017. “Political Advertising in 2016: The Presidential Election as Outlier?” The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics. 14(4): 445-470.
*Leticia Bode, David Lassen, Young Mie Kim, Dhavan Shah, Erika Franklin Fowler, Travis N. Ridout, and Michael Franz. 2016. “Coherent Campaigns? Campaign Broadcast and Social Messaging.” Online Information Review. 40(5): 580-594.
[A shorter version of the research posted here.]
*Michael Franz, Erika Fowler, and Travis Ridout. 2015. “Loose Cannons or Loyal Foot Soldiers? Toward a More Complex Theory of Interest Group Advertising Strategies,” American Journal of Political Science.
[Replication data]
[A shorter version of the research posted here.]
[Winner, 2017 Jack L. Walker, Jr. Award for Outstanding Article, Section on Political Parties and Organizations, American Political Science Association]
Michael Franz. 2015. “Interest Group Issue Appeals: Evidence of Issue Convergence in Senate and Presidential Elections, 2008-2014,” The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics. 12(4): 685–712
*Travis Ridout, Michael Franz, and Erika Franklin Fowler. 2014. “Sponsorship, Disclosure and Donors: Limiting the Impact of Outside Group Ads,” Political Research Quarterly. 68(1): 154-166
Travis Ridout, Michael Franz, and Erika Franklin Fowler. 2014. “Advances in the Study of Political Advertising,” Journal of Political Marketing. 13(3): 1-20
Michael Franz. 2013. “The Federal Election Commission as Regulator: The Changing Evaluations of Advisory Opinions,” University of California-Irvine Law Review.
Michael Franz. 2013. “Interest Groups in Electoral Politics: 2012 in Context,” The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics. 10(4): 62-79.
*Travis Ridout, Michael Franz, Kenneth Goldstein, and Will Feltus. 2012. “Microtargeting Through Political Advertising.” Political Communication. 29(1): 1-23.
Michael Franz. 2010. “The Citizens United Election? Or Same As It Ever Was?” The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics.
*Michael Franz and Travis Ridout. 2010. “Political Advertising and Persuasion in the 2004 and 2008 Presidential Elections,” American Politics Research. 38(2): 303-329.
*Michael Franz. 2009. “The Devil We Know? Evaluating the Federal Election Commission as Enforcer,” Election Law Journal. 8(3): 167-187.
*Travis Ridout and Michael Franz. 2008. “Evaluating Measures of Campaign Tone,” Political Communication. 25(2): 158-179.
Michael Franz. 2008. “The Interest Group Response to Campaign Finance Reform,” The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics. 6(1).
[Reprinted and updated to include 2008 and 2010 elections in Robert Boatright (ed.). 2011. Sourcebook on Contemporary Controversies: Campaign Finance. New York: Open Society Institute/IDEA]
*Michael Franz, Paul Freedman, Kenneth Goldstein, and Travis Ridout. 2008. “Understanding the Effect of Political Ads on Voter Turnout: A Response to Krasno and Green” Journal of Politics. 70(1): 262-268.
[Replication data, do-file, and Replication Log)
*Michael Franz and Travis Ridout. 2007. “Does Political Advertising Persuade?” Political Behavior. 29(4): 465-491.
[Replication data and do-file]
*Travis Ridout, Dhavan Shah, Kenneth Goldstein, and Michael Franz. 2004. “Evaluating Measures of Campaign Advertising Exposure on Political Learning,” Political Behavior, 26(3): 201-225.
*Paul Freedman, Michael Franz, and Kenneth Goldstein. 2004. “Campaign Advertising and Democratic Citizenship,” American Journal of Political Science, 48(3): 723-741.
*Richard Merelman and Michael Franz. 2004. “Markodemocracy? A Reconnaissance,” The Sociological Quarterly, 45(3): 451-470.
*Rodolfo Espino and Michael Franz. 2004. “Retesting Committee Composition Hypotheses for the U.S. Congress,” Political Analysis, 12(1): 196-198.
[Replication data]
*Rodolfo Espino and Michael Franz. 2002. “Phenotypic Discrimination Revisited: The Impact of Skin Color on Occupational Prestige,” Social Science Quarterly, 83(2): 612-625.
Book Chapters
Erika Franklin Fowler, Michael Franz, and Travis Ridout. 2020. “Online Political Advertising in the United States,” in Social Media and Democracy: The State of the Field and Prospects for Reform. Cambridge University Press.
Michael Franz. 2019. “The Old and the New: Political Advertising by Outside Groups on Television and Online,” in Burdett Loomis and Anthony Nownes (eds.), Interest Group Politics, 10th edition, Rowman and Littlefield.
Michael Franz. 2019. “The Utility and Content of Traditional Ads,” in in Elizabeth Suhay, Bernard Grofman, and Alexander Trechsel (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Persuasion, Oxford University Press.
Michael Franz. 2013. “Attack of the Super PACs? Interest Groups in the 2012 Elections,” Matt Grossman (ed.) New Directions in Interest Group Politics. New York: Routledge.
Michael Franz. 2012. “Targeting Campaign Messages: Good for Campaigns but Bad for America?,” Travis Ridout (ed.) New Directions in Media and Politics. New York: Routledge.
[Revised and Updated to include 2012-2016 elections in 2nd edition (pp.174-198)]
Michael Franz. 2012. “Campaign Finance Law: The Changing Role of Parties and Interest Groups,” Matthew Streb (ed.), Rethinking American Electoral Democracy, 2nd edition. New York: Routledge.
Michael Franz. 2012. “Past as Prologue: The Electoral Influence of Corporations,” in Paul Herrnson, Christopher Deering, and Clyde Wilcox (eds.), Interest Groups Unleashed, Washington, D.C: CQ Press.
Michael Franz. 2011. “Interest Group Political Advertising in Congressional and Presidential Elections,” in Burdett Loomis and Alan Cigler (eds.), Interest Group Politics, 8th edition, Washington, D.C: CQ Press.
Michael Franz. 2011. “Political Action Committees, 527s, and Other Groups in Congressional Elections,” in Peter Francia, Burdett Loomis, and Dara Strolovitch (eds.), Guide to Interest Groups and Lobbying, Washington, D.C: CQ Press.
Michael Franz. 2010. “Political Advertising,” in Stephen C. Craig and David Hill (eds.), The Electoral Challenge: Theory Meets Practice, 2nd edition. Washington, D.C: CQ Press.
Michael Franz, Joel Rivlin, and Kenneth Goldstein. 2006. “Much More of the Same: Television Advertising Pre and Post-BCRA,” in Michael J. Malbin (ed.), The Election After Reform: Money, Politics, and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield., pp.139-162.
Michael Franz and Kenneth Goldstein. 2002. “Following the (Soft) Money: Party Advertisements in American Elections,” in Sandy Maisel (ed.), The Parties Respond. 4th Edition. Boulder, CO: Westview Press., pp.141-160.
Working Projects
“Using media trades to incentivize engagement with a vivid illustration of contact theory,” with Dan Stone, David Francis, and Julia Minson, as part of the Strengthening Democracy Challenge: https://www.strengtheningdemocracychallenge.org/
Article on the effectiveness of tone in political ads (with Travis Ridout and Erika Franklin Fowler)
Article on ballot elections in Maine
Article on voter perceptions of express and issue advocacy ads
Article on turnout in 2016 elections
Article on advertising in down ballot (state and local) races in 2012 and 2016
Article on the issue content of candidate and interest group advertising in 2014 (with Travis Ridout and Erika Franklin Fowler) (2016 and 2018 comparisons to be added!)
Other Publications
“Comparing FEC Expenditure Data with Facebook Ad Library Totals,” Comments Submitted on Rulemaking with Respect to REG 2021-02 (Subvendor Reporting), Federal Election Commission: https://sers.fec.gov/fosers/
Book review of Campaign Finance and American Democracy: What the Public Really Thinks and Why it Matters, 2020. Public Opinion Quarterly, 85(4): 1158-1160.
“For the Super Bowl, Bloomberg and Trump Are Each Spending $10 Million on Ads,” Monkey Cage, February 2, 2020.
“Federal Election Commission,” in Voting and Political Representation in America: Issues and Trends, Mark Jones (ed.). Forthcoming. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
“The Big Lessons of Political Advertising in 2018” (with Travis Ridout and Erika Franklin Fowler), The Conversation
Book review of Campaign Finance: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016. The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics. Forthcoming.
Book review of Consumer Democracy: The Marketing of Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Perspectives on Politics. 2017. 15(1): 253-254.
“Outside Group Activity, 2000-2016,” Special Report from Wesleyan Media Project, August 24, 2016. *Submitted also (with complete 2016 totals) as a part of the Bipartisan Policy Center report: “The State of Campaign Finance in the U.S.”
Michael Franz. 2016. “Addressing Conservatives And (Mis)Using Social Science In The Debate Over Campaign Finance,” Tulsa Law Review. 59: 359-371.
Erika Franklin Fowler, Michael M. Franz and Travis N. Ridout. April 30, 2014. “Written Testimony on Interest Group Advertising.” Submitted to the Senate Rules Committee Hearing on Campaign Finance.
Michael Franz. “Who Won the Ad War?” The Monkey Cage, May 6, 2013.
Erika Franklin Fowler, Michael M. Franz and Travis N. Ridout. February 2013. “A First Look at Political Advertising in the 2012 Campaign.” Political Communication Report 23(1), Newsletter of the American Political Science Association and the International Communication Association.
“Understanding the Cost of U.S. Elections: Too Little, Too Much, or Too Hard to Tell?”, The American Interest, July/August 2013.
[The data set I assembled for the analysis is here.]
Book review of Niche News: The Politics of News Choice, by Natalie Jomini Stroud. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Perspectives on Politics. 2013. 11(4): 1195-1196
“Election of legislators should be the only referendum voters need,” Portland Press-Herald Editorial, September 2009.
Odds and Ends
Many papers never see beyond a conference or two. Check out a few of my own papers that fit this criteria here.
Public Lecture, “A Brief History of Redistricting and its Impacts,” Bowdoin College, September 18, 2017
Bowdoin College Convocation Address, “Promoting Empiricism in the Age of Alternative Facts,” August 29, 2017
Invited Lecture, “The Challenges of Direct Democracy: The History of Ballot Measures in Maine,” Bowdoin, October 4, 2018. See slide deck here.
Michael Franz 