The conventional wisdom about negative political campaigning holds that it works, ie, it has
the consequences its practitioners intend. Many observers also fear that negative
campaigning has unintended but detrimental effects on the political system itself. An earlier
meta-analytic assessment of the relevant literature found no reliable evidence for these
claims, but since then the research literature has more than doubled in size and has greatly
improved in quality. We reexamine this literature and find that the major conclusions from the�…

The conventional wisdom about negative political advertisements holds that no one likes
them, but they work, that is, they have the consequences their sponsors intend. Moreover,
many analysts have expressed concern over the detrimental effects of such negativism on
the American political system. We examine the accuracy of the conventional wisdom and the
legitimacy of the fears about the consequences for the political system via meta-analysis, a
systematic, quantitative review of the literature. The data do not support either contention�…