Selective Exposure and Electoral Competition

We theoretically study how selective exposure to information by voters impacts electoral competition between two policy motivated candidates. Each candidate has stochastic valence that is realized after the candidates choose platforms. In our model of selective exposure voters receive information about the candidates’ valences that is slanted to reflect their ideological preferences. Existing work predicts that selective exposure intensifies platform polarization relative to settings where voters obtain information from a neutral source. We instead show that it can reduce platform polarization.