Yard Signs: Public Displays of Aggression?
Interactive artwork by Leslie Liu linked here
The first presidential debate did absolutely nothing to assuage my election-based anxiety. I find myself constantly worrying about the political state of my nation; I check the news far more frequently than I should and I’ve noticed that many of my conversations end up drifting towards the subject of the election. Even when I try to relax by walking around my neighborhood, I, quite literally, see signs reminding me of the intense polarization that has come to dominate American politics. For me, yard signs have become a tangible reminder of the political boundaries within my neighborhood.
Dr. Anand Sokhey, co-author of the book Politics on Display: Yard Signs and the Politicization of Social Spaces, believes that putting up a political yard sign is a “very unique act… It is tying you and your identity and what you support to a specific place and putting it out there in a way that can be pretty confrontational.”
I have to agree with Dr. Sokhey; while the presence of a flimsy yard sign may not seem like much, it can absolutely elicit strong responses. One house in my neighborhood has a display (consisting of two Trump signs, one Trump banner, three signs for my district’s Republican State Senate candidate, and two Blue Lives Matter signs) that, frankly, causes me to bristle every time that I drive by. I know that I’m not the only one experiencing these reactions: Dr. Sokhey’s research team found that one in four people reported feeling angry after coming across a yard sign while one in five reported feeling anxious. But do people put up yard signs to provoke emotional reactions from their neighbors? Are they actively trying to sow division in their neighborhood? Have I become too pessimistic and judgmental of my neighbors who may just be trying to increase name recognition for their candidate of choice?
Not everyone views political yard signs as boundary markers meant to divide neighborhoods; many people see them as tools to create solidarity and community.
Although some may view yard signs as an effective campaign tool, recent studies have shown that they do not significantly affect election outcomes. A 2016 study by a Columbia professor and his research partners attempted to evaluate the efficacy of lawn signs in affecting the outcomes of four different elections at the federal, local, and state levels. The researchers found that the presence of yard signs gave a candidate about a 1.7 percentage-point boost. While this may seem significant, an analysis done by the Washington Post found that, out of 6000-plus general and primary elections for House and Senate seats, only 2.2% of races fell within 1.7 percentage points.
In an interview with the Atlantic, Kevin Frank, the former communications director of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, expressed his perspective on the matter by declaring that he was “not sure the day ever existed where [yard signs] made a difference for a candidate.” While yard signs may play a larger role in local elections where name recognition is low, most researchers find that their overall impact tends to be pretty negligible.
So if yard signs aren’t very effective, then why do they continue to be so popular during election cycles? For some, the motivation comes from the desire to be part of a team. In that same interview with the Atlantic, Frank compared putting yard signs up for a candidate to rooting for a sports team. People enjoy being part of a movement, and they enjoy finding community among like-minded people. Dr. Sokhey’s research team also found that most respondents choose to “display signs in solidarity with like-minded people, rather than in defiance of those they oppose.” Perhaps I have been slightly too suspicious of my neighbors’ intentions. Not everyone views political yard signs as boundary markers meant to divide neighborhoods; many people see them as tools to create solidarity and community.
However, I would like to emphasize that I am by no means urging you to look past the content of your neighbor’s yard signs. While it would be nice to finish this article on a positive note, I have to remember what Dr. Sokhey said about political yard sign displays offering public and specific representation of someone’s identity. I cannot ask you to look at a house with a Trump sign in the yard and view them only as a person looking for a sense of belonging, especially as I am unable to do that myself. People who line their lawns with political yard signs are also aligning themselves with the values of the candidates that they are supporting. As a result, these signs create boundaries regardless of the owner’s original intentions. I am only encouraging you to think more deeply about the physical representations of division, as the motivations behind the creation of these boundaries may be more nuanced than you might expect.
Cover art by Leslie Liu, design lead