Managerial Economics 12th Edition by Christopher Thomas,Charles Maurice

Exercise 2

The well-known nationally syndicated columnist David Broder reported the recent findings of two academic political scientists. These scholars found that voters are quite turned off by "negative campaigns" of politicians. Many people went as far as not voting because of this. Nevertheless, the political scientists noted it is futile to urge candidates to stay positive. The damage from staying positive is heaviest when the opponent is attacking. Explain the dilemma in terms of strategic behavior.