Negative Campaigning: An Analysis of U.S. Senate Elections. By Richard R. Lau and Gerald M. Pomper. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. 177p. $26.95.

If you think that negative campaigning has come to dominate the American electoral landscape, depresses voter turnout, is particularly effective in winning votes, and/or is detrimental to democracy, this book is a must read. Richard Lau and Gerald Pomper investigate a series of questions intended to illuminate these concerns. They utilize an extensive data set based on U.S. Senate elections from 1992 through 2002. Their findings are often quite startling. Negative campaigning does not appear to have the deleterious effects conventional wisdom would suggest.