Does higher voter turnout among the poor lead to more equal policy representation?

How does poverty influence political participation? This question has interested political scientists since the early days of the discipline, but providing a definitive answer has proved difficult. This article focuses on one central aspect of poverty—the experience of acute financial hardship, lasting a few days at a time. Drawing on classic models of political engagement and novel theoretical insights, I argue that by inducing stress, social isolation, and feelings of alienation, acute financial hardship has immediate negative effects on political participation. Inference relies on a natural experiment afforded by the sequence of bank working days that causes short-term financial difficulties for the poor. Using data from three million individuals, personal interviews, and 1,100 elections in Germany, I demonstrate that acute financial hardship reduces both turnout intentions and actual turnout. The results imply that the financial status of the poor on election day can have important consequences for their political representation.

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A Theory of Redistribution in New Democracies

10.1093/oso/9780198826927.003.0002 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Ekrem Karakoç

Keyword(s):

Political Parties ◽

Voter Turnout ◽

Party System ◽

New Democracies ◽

Social Spending ◽

Social Policies ◽

Income Equality ◽

The Poor ◽

Organized Interest ◽

Weak Party

This chapter starts with the question of why new democracies have such difficulty generating income equality. It argues that low voter turnout and weak party system institutionalization motivate governments to increase targeted spending toward the nonpoor. The governments, mostly coalitions, are motivated through their social policies to appeal to likely voters, both the loyal and potential electorate. If parties can increase turnout by mobilizing the poor, this will reduce their need to use targeted social policies toward likely voters for electoral purposes. Targeted social spending causes income equality to go up by rewarding privileged social groups to the detriment of the disadvantaged. This chapter will also explain all concepts in greater detail and present empirical evidence on voter turnout by the poor. It thus demonstrates the link between organized interest groups and political parties, and the formulation of social policies and their impact on inequality, in the context of new democracies.

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Conservatives and coronavirus may feed Iranian apathy

Emerald Expert Briefings ◽

10.1108/oxan-db250931 ◽

2020 ◽

Keyword(s):

Voter Turnout ◽

Female Empowerment ◽

Economic Policies ◽

Content Type ◽

Parliamentary Elections ◽

The Poor ◽

Major Outbreak ◽

The Government

Subject Iran’s elections. Significance Conservatives unsurprisingly won most of the seats in the country’s February 21 parliamentary elections. Public disaffection over the poor economy, failed policies and reformist disqualifications resulted in embarrassingly low voter turnout. This comes as the government is fumbling its response to what appears to be a major outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus. Impacts Conservatives will look to capitalise on their gains by winning the presidency in 2021 and controlling the Supreme Leader's succession. Populist economic policies and increased economic isolation will likely boost inflation further. The election of 17 women to parliament, the same as in 2016, will do little to increase female empowerment in the current atmosphere.

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Are Democrats Really the Party of the Poor? Partisanship, Class, and Representation in the U.S. Senate

Political Research Quarterly ◽

10.1177/1065912919862623 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 73 (4) ◽

pp. 848-865 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Cory Maks-Solomon ◽

Elizabeth Rigby

Keyword(s):

Social Issues ◽

Lower Class ◽

Upper Class ◽

Roll Call ◽

Economic Issues ◽

Policy Debates ◽

The Poor ◽

Policy Representation ◽

The Rich ◽

The U.S

Scholars have identified partisan differences in policy representation—with Republicans more often found to represent the rich, while Democrats align with the preferences of less affluent voters. This paper explores these partisan differences, questioning this simple conclusion on both theoretical and methodological grounds. Instead, we develop and test a theory in which elected officials of both parties represent their co-partisans, who agree with one another on many policy issues. Yet, on a subset of issues, upper class and lower class co-partisans have diverging policy preferences: rich and poor Democrats disagree on social issues while rich and poor Republicans disagree on economic issues. We analyze roll call voting in the U.S. Senate and find that, in these cases, senators of both parties better represent the preferences held by affluent members of their party. Our findings underscore the value in examining the content of policy debates and theorizing about different forms of representation.

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Electoral Participation in Pursuit of Policy Representation: Ideological Congruence and Voter Turnout

Journal of Elections Public Opinion and Parties ◽

10.1080/17457289.2013.846347 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 291-311 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Zoe Lefkofridi ◽

Nathalie Giger ◽

Aina Gallego

Keyword(s):

Voter Turnout ◽

Electoral Participation ◽

Policy Representation ◽

Ideological Congruence

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High-Resolution, Low-Voltage SEM of Cell Wall Regeneration of Yeast Shizosaccharomyces Pombe Protoplasts

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100103127 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 46 ◽

pp. 208-211

Author(s):

M. Osumi ◽

N. Yamada ◽

T. Nagatani

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscope ◽

Scanning Electron Microscope ◽

Low Voltage ◽

Cell Wall Regeneration ◽

The Past ◽

The Poor ◽

Probe Size ◽

Beam Damage ◽

Biological Field ◽

Scanning Electron

Even though many early workers had suggested the use of lower voltages to increase topographic contrast and to reduce specimen charging and beam damage, we did not usually operate in the conventional scanning electron microscope at low voltage because of the poor resolution, especially of bioligical specimens. However, the development of the “in-lens” field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) has led to marked inprovement in resolution, especially in the range of 1-5 kV, within the past year. The probe size has been cumulated to be 0.7nm in diameter at 30kV and about 3nm at 1kV. We have been trying to develop techniques to use this in-lens FESEM at low voltage (LVSEM) for direct observation of totally uncoated biological specimens and have developed the LVSEM method for the biological field.

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Artefacts in the x-ray microanalysis of frozen-hydrated biological samples

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100127724 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 45 ◽

pp. 658-659

Author(s):

Patrick Echlin

Keyword(s):

Electron Scattering ◽

Biological Samples ◽

Fracture Face ◽

Detailed Structure ◽

X Ray ◽

Morphological Appearance ◽

The Poor ◽

Freeze Dried

A number of papers have appeared recently which purport to have carried out x-ray microanalysis on fully frozen hydrated samples. It is important to establish reliable criteria to be certain that a sample is in a fully hydrated state. The morphological appearance of the sample is an obvious parameter because fully hydrated samples lack the detailed structure seen in their freeze dried counterparts. The electron scattering by ice within a frozen-hydrated section and from the surface of a frozen-hydrated fracture face obscures cellular detail. (Fig. 1G and 1H.) However, the morphological appearance alone can be quite deceptive for as Figures 1E and 1F show, parts of frozen-dried samples may also have the poor morphology normally associated with fully hydrated samples. It is only when one examines the x-ray spectra that an assurance can be given that the sample is fully hydrated.

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Influence of the Acoustic Reflex on Vowel Recognition

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/jshr.2903.420 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 29 (3) ◽

pp. 420-424 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Michael Dorman ◽

Ingrid Cedar ◽

Maureen Hannley ◽

Marjorie Leek ◽

Julie Mapes Lindholm

Keyword(s):

Auditory System ◽

Sound Pressure ◽

Dynamic Range ◽

Recognition Accuracy ◽

Pressure Level ◽

Acoustic Reflex ◽

The Poor ◽

Stapedial Reflex ◽

Vowel Recognition ◽

High Sound

Computer synthesized vowels of 50- and 300-ms duration were presented to normal-hearing listeners at a moderate and high sound pressure level (SPL). Presentation at the high SPL resulted in poor recognition accuracy for vowels of a duration (50 ms) shorter than the latency of the acoustic stapedial reflex. Presentation level had no effect on recognition accuracy for vowels of sufficient duration (300 ms) to elicit the reflex. The poor recognition accuracy for the brief, high intensity vowels was significantly improved when the reflex was preactivated. These results demonstrate the importance of the acoustic reflex in extending the dynamic range of the auditory system for speech recognition.

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