Compulsory Voting, Voter Turnout and Asymmetrical Habit-Formation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Gaebler ◽  
Niklas Potrafke ◽  
Felix Roesel
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Habit Formation ◽  
Compulsory Voting

scholarly journals Habit Formation in Voting: Evidence from Rainy Elections

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 160-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Fujiwara ◽  
Kyle Meng ◽  
Tom Vogl
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Habit Formation ◽  
County Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Social Spillovers ◽  
Consumption Value

We estimate habit formation in voting—the effect of past on current turnout—by exploiting transitory voting cost shocks. Using county-level data on US presidential elections from 1952–2012, we find that rainfall on current and past election days reduces voter turnout. Our estimates imply that a 1-point decrease in past turnout lowers current turnout by 0.6–1.0 points. Further analyses suggest that habit formation operates by reinforcing the direct consumption value of voting and that our estimates may be amplified by social spillovers. (JEL D72, D83, N42)

scholarly journals Where Do Distrusting Voters Turn if There is No Viable Exit or Voice Option? The Impact of Political Trust on Electoral Behaviour in the Belgian Regional Elections of June 2009

2011 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Hooghe ◽  
Sofie Marien ◽  
Teun Pauwels
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Compulsory Voting ◽  
Political Distrust ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
Electoral Behaviour ◽  
Regional Elections ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIt has been suggested that political distrust is associated with lower levels of voter turnout and increased votes for challenger or populist parties. We investigate the relationship between political (dis)trust and electoral behaviour using the 2009 Belgian Election Study. Belgium presents an interesting case because compulsory voting (with an accompanying turnout rate of 90.4 per cent) compels distrusting voters to participate in elections. Nevertheless, distrusting voters are significantly more inclined to cast a blank or invalid vote. Second, distrust is positively associated with a preference for extreme right (Vlaams Belang) and populist (Lijst Dedecker) parties. Third, in party systems where there is no supply of viable challengers (i.e. the French-speaking region of Belgium), the effect of political trust on party preference is limited. We conclude that electoral effects of political distrust are determined by the electoral and party system and the supply of electoral protest.

scholarly journals Compulsory Voting, Habit Formation, and Political Participation

2018 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael M. Bechtel ◽  
Dominik Hangartner ◽  
Lukas Schmid
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Habit Formation ◽  
Compulsory Voting

Electoral turnout in Muslim-majority states: A macro-level panel analysis

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Stockemer ◽  
Susan Khazaeli
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Electoral Participation ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Compulsory Voting ◽  
Islamic Religion ◽  
Muslim Majority ◽  
Contextual Indicators ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Impact

AbstractHigh voter turnout gives legitimacy to the political system and strengthens the stability of a country. Since voter turnout matters, it is important to determine which factors boost electoral participation. While there is a vast literature on turnout focusing on institutional, socio-economic, and contextual indicators, there appears to be a shortage of scholarship on the relationship between religion and turnout. In our study, we evaluate the impact of the Islamic religion on electoral participation. Drawing on a large dataset that incorporates all legislative elections worldwide from 1970 to 2010 and controlling for compulsory voting, the electoral system type, the decisiveness of the election, the competitiveness of the election, the size of the country, the regime type and development, we find that Muslim-majority countries have lower turnout rates than majority non-Muslim countries. We also find electoral participation to be lower in countries where Islamic tenets are more strongly entrenched in politics.

Electronic Voting in Belgium

2011 ◽  
pp. 670-679
Author(s):  
P. Delwit
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Electronic Voting ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Compulsory Voting ◽  
Universal Suffrage ◽  
Long Time ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Vote Counting

Does representative democracy imply that there is … representation? What does one mean by representation? Looked at very generally, it means that the legislative (parliament and government) and executive (government) bodies represent the opinions of those who are represented. The primary method for expressing opinions in democracies is by voting: the parliaments are made up of representatives that reflect the different trends of the opinion expressed by the vote (Avril, 1990). Universal suffrage is neither a historical fact nor a clear-cut contemporary feature. There have been, and there still are, individuals who are excluded from voting and universal suffrage (Rémond, 1999). For a long time, several European countries had representational parliamentary systems that were not democracies. We then experienced a notabilization of political relations (Deloye, 1997, p. 96). As Max Weber put it, one is not then living from politics but for politics (Weber, 1963). Several restrictions existed and still exist with universal suffrage. For many years, governments either slowed down or restrained access to voting. Nowadays, the problems arise in new and really reverse terms. The question is more about knowing how to bring citizens back to the ballot boxes and in this manner to perpetuate the legitimacy of the democratic system. Indeed, voter turnout rates have been falling for the past 20 years (Blais & Dobrzynska, 1998; Delwit, 2002). In many European countries, abstention has risen in a straight line since the end of the 1970s right up to the present day. In view of this trend and considering the growing number of election choices for a priori nongovernment parties (Ignazi, 2003), several analysts and political leaders have been wondering about ways to curb this development. In part, thoughts relating to electronic voting (e-voting) lie within this context (Birch & Watt, 2004). A certain number of academics and political leaders have been examining institutionalised restraints likely to improve the current state of affairs (Bowler, Brockington, & Donovan, 2001). Naturally in this framework, electronic vote is only one element amongst others. In this regard, Arend Lijphart has undoubtedly pursued this the furthest, since in 1997 he suggested (re)introducing compulsory voting in democratic states in order to respond to the sagging voter turnout (Lijphart, 1997, p. 11). The will to reduce voter abstention was not the only issue at the origin of studies on the possibility of introducing or extending e-voting. The mobilization of new communication methods and technology for voting was also at issue. Particularly as the unfortunate vote counting experience in the state of Florida during the 2000 presidential election highlighted concerns about traditional methods of voting and vote counting (Jarvis, 2001). This article will briefly discuss the issue of e-voting by looking at the response to the introduction of e-voting by Belgian citizens who used it. We will show the results of a major exit poll survey conducted on the occasion of the May 18, 2003, federal elections on Belgian’s opinions with regard to e-voting. Two major issues were examined. To what extent was e-voting as it was used in Belgium considered as easy or difficult to use? Was e-voting commonly accepted or rejected by the voters who used it?

Unequal Participation: Democracy's Unresolved Dilemma Presidential Address, American Political Science Association, 1996

1997 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arend Lijphart
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
The Other ◽  
American Political Science Association ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Compulsory Voting ◽  
Voting Age ◽  
American Political Science ◽  
Science Association

Low voter turnout is a serious democratic problem for five reasons: (1) It means unequal turnout that is systematically biased against less well-to-do citizens. (2) Unequal turnout spells unequal political influence. (3) U.S. voter turnout is especially low, but, measured as percent of voting-age population, it is also relatively low in most other countries. (4) Turnout in midterm, regional, local, and supranational elections—less salient but by no means unimportant elections—tends to be especially poor. (5) Turnout appears to be declining everywhere. The problem of inequality can be solved by institutional mechanisms that maximize turnout. One option is the combination of voter-friendly registration rules, proportional representation, infrequent elections, weekend voting, and holding less salient elections concurrently with the most important national elections. The other option, which can maximize turnout by itself, is compulsory voting. Its advantages far outweigh the normative and practical objections to it.

scholarly journals Compulsory Voting, Identity, and Nation Building - The Importance of the Compulsory Vote

Federalism-E ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-49
Author(s):  
Joel Holdaway
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
National Election ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Compulsory Voting ◽  
The World ◽  
Voting Age ◽  
Registered Voters ◽  
Registered Voter

One hundred twenty five euros. This is the fine that Belgian citizens are liable for if they abstain from voting more than once in a national election.1 Not surprisingly, voter turnout in Belgium is one of the highest in the world and amongst the top three in industrialized liberal democracies. Between 1978 and 1999, the average voter turnout for registered voters in Belgium was ninety-three percent and the average turnout for those of voting age was eighty-seven percent.2 This marks a clear departure from regimes such as France, wherein the registered voter turnout for the legislative elections during the same period was seventy-one percent3 [...]

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