Electoral Participation and Political Context: The Turnout–Marginality Paradox at the 2001 British General Election

10.1068/a3747 ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 1191-1206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles J Pattie ◽  
Ron J Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Political Context ◽  
General Election ◽  
Electoral Participation ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Electoral Turnout ◽  
The Impact

Constituency-level analyses of electoral turnout commonly uncover a correlation between the marginality of a seat and the level of electoral participation in the seat: the closer the local contest, the greater the rate of participation in the election. However, repeated efforts to assess the impact of constituency marginality on the propensity of individual electors to participate have met with failure. The 2001 British General Election was no exception to either result. This presence of an ecological aggregate-level relationship which is not replicated at the level of individual voters is paradoxical. However, the paradox can be resolved when two analytical steps are combined. First, nonvoters are classified into two groups according to their reasons for abstention: those who abstain on purpose (‘voluntary abstainers’), and those who fail to vote for reasons largely beyond their control (‘involuntary abstainers’). Second, attention is paid not only to actual marginality but also to perceived marginality. Individuals who think their constituency is competitive are less likely to abstain deliberately than individuals who think their constituency is safe.

A bottleneck model of e-voting: Why technology fails to boost turnout

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1336-1354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristjan Vassil ◽  
Till Weber
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
General Election ◽  
Electoral Participation ◽  
Bottleneck Effect ◽  
Political Inequality ◽  
Internet Voting ◽  
Bottleneck Model ◽  
The Impact

Recent years have seen increasing interest in internet voting in theory and practice. Proponents hope that modernizing the electoral process will boost turnout. Less optimistic scholars object that the new technology merely perpetuates existing patterns of participation. This study aims to arbitrate the controversy. New survey data from the 2007 general election in Estonia allow us to predict the usage of e-voting and its impact on electoral participation. We find that e-voting mostly affects ‘peripheral’ citizens (in a demographic and political sense), but only few of these citizens vote online in the first place. Conversely, the impact on typical e-voters is low. This ‘bottleneck’ effect explains why e-voting has failed to boost turnout but also points to a role in reducing political inequality.

scholarly journals New Labour, New Policies: Constructing a Discourse of Citizenship

1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-114
Author(s):  
Keith Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Citizenship Education ◽  
New Labour ◽  
Political Context ◽  
British Society ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Legitimation Crisis ◽  
New Policies ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this paper is examine the development of citizenship education as a curriculum priority within the UK. Employing Habermas' theory of legitimation crisis, the paper places the contemporary enthusiasm for citizenship education within a socioeconomic, cultural and political context. The paper argues that current preoccupations with citizenship education contained in Education for Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools (Dfee, 1999), stem from the impact of Neo-Liberal concerns with individualism, economic and technological globalisation and the potential fragmentation of contemporary society. The paper explores the principles of education for citizenship and the teaching of democracy in schools and suggests that, as part of New Labour's developing conception of British society, citizenship education asks some fundamental questions of that society.

Measuring Value Change in Western Industrialized Societies: The Impact of Unemployment

1991 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 905-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold D. Clarke ◽  
Nitish Dutt
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Value Change ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Past ◽  
Value Priorities ◽  
Time Series Analyses ◽  
The Impact

During the past two decades a four-item battery administered in biannual Euro-Barometer surveys has been used to measure changing value priorities in Western European countries. We provide evidence that the measure is seriously flawed. Pooled cross-sectional time series analyses for the 1976–86 period reveal that the Euro-Barometer postmaterialist-materialist value index and two of its components are very sensitive to short-term changes in economic conditions, and that the failure to include a statement about unemployment in the four-item values battery accounts for much of the apparent growth of postmaterialist values in several countries after 1980. The aggregate-level findings are buttressed by analyses of panel data from three countries.

Gender Gaps in Electoral Turnout: Surveys versus Administrative Censuses

2021 ◽  
pp. 147892992110195
Author(s):  
Paulo Cox ◽  
Mauricio Morales Quiroga
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Electoral Participation ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Electoral Turnout ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Official Data ◽  
Rule Out

Gender gaps in voter turnout are usually studied using opinion surveys rather than official census data. This is because administrative censuses usually do not disaggregate turnout according to voters’ sex. Without this official information, much of the research on gender gaps in electoral turnout relies on survey respondents’ self-reported behavior, either before or after an election. The decision to use survey data implies facing several potential drawbacks. Among them are the turnout overstatement bias and the attrition or nonresponse bias, both affecting the estimation of factors explaining turnout and any related statistical analysis. Furthermore, these biases may be correlated with covariates such as gender: men, more than women, may systematically overstate their electoral participation. We analyze turnout gender gaps in Chile, comparing national surveys with official administrative data, which in Chile are publicly available. Crucially, the latter includes the official record of sex, age, and the electoral behavior—whether the individual voted or not—for about 14 million registered individuals. Based on a series of statistical models, we find that analysis based on survey data is likely to rule out gender gaps in electoral participation. Carrying out the same exercises, but with official data, leads to the opposite conclusion, namely, that there is a sizable gender gap favoring women.

scholarly journals Interdependance, linkage et système international : de l'analyse conceptuelle aux problèmes de politique étrangère

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-352
Author(s):  
Irnerio Seminatore
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Political Context ◽  
International Policy ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The North ◽  
Interdependence Theory ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Impact

The emergence and evolution of the literature dealing with interdependence in the international System is looked into. An attempt is made to show its significance and main points as well as its implications. The debates on interdependence within the North-American political context are regarded as solutions to the preceding issues on dependence. Interesting passages are dedicated to the impact of the interdependence theory on the interpretation of the international system, as illustrated by two schools of thought in foreign policy (Kissinger-Brzezinski). Linkage of the tactical and strategic aspects to the economic and political interrelation of international relations, as put forward by policy makers, has brought to the fore the difficulties and limits of negotiation in the face of competition and in the aftermath of confrontation. This paper offers subtle, yet positive, conclusions on the use of the interdependance theory in international policy.

Seeking Sanctuary: Exploring the Changing Postcolonial and Racialised Politics of Belonging in East London

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 102-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamser Sinha
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Skin Colour ◽  
Local Resistance ◽  
Immigration Status ◽  
Far Right ◽  
The Impact

This paper explores the changing postcolonial and racialised politics of belonging in East London. In particular it draws on research with multi-sector professionals and 15 to 18 year old young separated migrants. Separated from parents, these teenagers include those who had applied for asylum and were living under social services care as ‘unaccompanied’ and those living with their extended family. It also includes separated migrants wanting sanctuary, but who had insecure immigration status because their asylum claim had failed, or because they had not yet applied for asylum and had no other visa status. The research focuses on healthcare issues and the broader life-situations of young separated migrants as a way to examine the changing politics of belonging in East London. Features of this politics include a rise in popularity of the Far Right, the impact of immigration and healthcare legislation and practice, and racial hostility. As well as looking at this, there is an exploration of resistance to this racialised political context by teenagers and certain professionals, and the struggle for a convivial multiculture that is a feature of their resistance. The argument here is that the changing racialised politics of belonging in East London: (1) show how underdevelopment, geo-political and postcolonial forces contribute to shaping local experiences of racism (2) sometimes involves, rather than aggressively targets, British citizens from NCWP (New Commonwealth and Pakistani) backgrounds and their descendants, as skin colour becomes less of an articulated symbol of ‘otherness’ than immigration status (3) therefore excludes ‘new migrants’ and especially those seeking sanctuary, such as the young people in this paper, from belonging (4) faces local resistance. However resistance to this politics might be better informed by a greater understanding of how postcolonialism shapes local racism and militates against a convivial multiculture, with sociology playing a role in accomplishing this

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