Presidential Institutions and Electoral Participation in Concurrent Elections in Latin America

2017 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 541-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Carreras
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Electoral Participation ◽  
Electoral Rules ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Concurrent Elections

Previous studies of voter turnout in Latin America have found weak and inconsistent evidence for the link between political institutions and electoral participation. In this article, I use data from an expanded dataset of voter turnout in Latin America (1980–2016) to show that institutions do have an impact on citizens’ decisions on whether or not to participate in concurrent elections. Whereas previous studies analyzed the effect of legislative institutions on voter turnout, this article estimates a series of models that demonstrate the impact of presidential institutions and the political context surrounding presidential elections on electoral participation. The findings suggest that when first-order (presidential) and second-order (legislative) elections take place concurrently, electoral participation is influenced primarily by presidential institutions (term length, presidential powers, and electoral rules) and the electoral context in which the presidential elections take place (effective number of presidential candidates).

Voter Turnout in Presidential Democracies

2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (10) ◽  
pp. 1317-1338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan J. Dettrey ◽  
Leslie A. Schwindt-Bayer
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Economic Environment ◽  
Voter Participation ◽  
Electoral Rules ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Presidential Democracies ◽  
Runoff Elections

Numerous studies indicate that political institutions play an important role in explaining variation in voter turnout across countries. The nuances of institutions unique to presidential elections have been largely overlooked, however, despite the different incentives they offer for voters to participate in elections. This article examines the effect that four presidential institutions had on voter turnout in presidential elections between 1974 and 2004—the timing of elections (whether concurrent or nonconcurrent), the power of the presidency, presidential electoral rules (plurality or majority runoff), and reelection rules. To isolate the effect of presidential institutions, this study controls for other likely influences on turnout, including the economic environment and the wider political context. It finds that (a) runoff elections dampen turnout whereas incumbency spurs it and (b) more powerful presidencies and elections, when held concurrently with legislative elections, have little effect on voter participation.

scholarly journals Compulsory for Whom? Mandatory Voting and Electoral Participation in Brazil, 1986-2006

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Power
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Electoral Participation ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Compulsory Voting ◽  
Methodological Perspective ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mandatory Voting

Latin America contains roughly half of the world's countries that use compulsory voting, but this electoral institution has received only limited attention from researchers. This article examines the determinants of voter turnout in the world's largest electorate subject to mandatory voting, that of Brazil. In analyzing data from six national legislative elections held in Brazil between 1986 and 2006, the study finds that the impact of compulsory laws varies across social and economic groups. From a methodological perspective, the article argues that “compulsoriness” of mandatory voting legislation can be modeled by taking into account both exemptions to the law and the relevance of potential sanctions against non-voters. The issue of enforcement must be considered if we are to develop comprehensive models of electoral participation under conditions of 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.

Partisan Effects of Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections

2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 408-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
JACK H. NAGEL ◽  
JOHN E. McNULTY
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
The South ◽  
Gubernatorial Elections ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
Empirically Supported ◽  
High Turnout ◽  
The Impact

Previous studies of turnout effects in U.S. elections have reported perplexingly different results for presidential as opposed to major statewide (senatorial and gubernatorial) contests. By justifying and applying a consistent methodology, the authors find that results for both types conform to the pattern previously reported by Nagel and McNulty for senatorial and gubernatorial races. Outside the South, higher turnout helped Democratic presidential candidates from 1928 through 1964. In 1968 through 1996, however, the impact of turnout in straight two-party contests was insignificant, except in the South, where Democrats benefited from higher turnout. In the earlier period, high turnout helped Democrats most in states where Republicans usually prevailed. Its effects became weaker or even pro-Republican in the most strongly Democratic states. All of these findings uphold DeNardo's mathematical model, which provides an empirically supported theory of the partisan effects of turnout in U.S. presidential, senatorial, and gubernatorial elections.

scholarly journals Simultaneous Elections and the Rise of Female Representation in Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-72
Author(s):  
Luky Sandra Amalia ◽  
Aisah Putri Budiatri ◽  
Mouliza KD. Sweinstani ◽  
Atika Nur Kusumaningtyas ◽  
Esty Ekawati
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Institutional Innovation ◽  
Presidential Candidate ◽  
Female Representation ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Women Candidates ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Legislative Election

In the 2019 election, the proportion of women elected to Indonesia’s People’s Representative Assembly ( Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) increased significantly to almost 21 per cent. In this article, we ask whether an institutional innovation – the introduction of simultaneous presidential and legislative elections – contributed to this change. We examine the election results, demonstrating that, overall, women candidates did particularly well in provinces where the presidential candidate nominated by their party won a majority of the vote. Having established quantitatively a connection between results of the presidential elections and outcomes for women legislative candidates, we turn to our qualitative findings to seek a mechanism explaining this outcome. We argue that the simultaneous elections helped women candidates by easing their access to voters who supported one of the presidential candidates, but who were undecided on the legislative election. Rather than imposing additional burdens on female candidates, simultaneous elections assisted them.

Accessible Elections and Voter Turnout

2020 ◽  
pp. 51-68
Author(s):  
Michael Ritter
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Early Voting ◽  
Panel Models ◽  
Election Administration ◽  
Midterm Elections ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Voting Laws

Chapter 4 evaluates the impact of convenience voting laws (in-person early voting, no-excuse absentee/mail voting, and same day registration) and election administration on individual-level voter turnout change from the 2010 to 2014 midterm elections and the 2008 to 2012 presidential elections using lagged panel models. Results show that non-voters are more likely to become voters when living in states with absentee/mail voting, in-person early voting, same day registration, and high-quality election administration, controlling for other factors. Same day registration is the most important of the three in both midterm and presidential elections, while early voting and absentee/mail voting have the largest effects in midterm elections.

Voters reward hard-working MPs: empirical evidence from the French legislative elections

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abel François ◽  
Julien Navarro
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Political System ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Vote Share ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Legislative Election

AbstractThis paper studies the relationship between incumbent MPs’ activities and their electoral fortune. We address this question in the context of the French political system characterized by an executive domination, a candidate-centered electoral system, and an electoral schedule maximizing the impact of the presidential elections. Given the contradictory influence of these three institutional features on the relationship between MPs’ activities and electoral results, the overall link can only be assessed empirically. We test the effects of several measurements of MPs’ activities on both their vote share and reelection probability in the 2007 legislative election. We show that MPs’ activities are differently correlated to both the incumbents’ vote shares in the first round and their reelection. Despite the weakness of the French National Assembly, several parliamentary activities, especially bill initiation, have a significant effect on MPs’ electoral prospects.

scholarly journals Political institutions, lobbying and corruption

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 917-939 ◽  
Author(s):  
NAURO F. CAMPOS ◽  
FRANCESCO GIOVANNONI
Keyword(s):  
Government Policy ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Political Institution ◽  
Electoral Rules ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Enterprise Level ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
The Impact

AbstractAlthough firms use various strategies to try to influence government policy, with lobbying and corruption chiefly among them, and political institutions play an important role in determining policy choices, very little research has been devoted to these topics. This paper tries to fill this gap. Using cross-country enterprise-level data, it investigates (1) the effect of a key political institution, namely electoral rules, on the probability that a firm engages in lobbying activities and (2) the impact of lobbying on influence, accounting for corruption and political institutions. The main conclusion is that lobbying is a significantly more effective way of generating political influence than corruption, and that electoral rules are a key mediating political institution. Our baseline estimate is that the probability of influencing government policy is 16% higher for firms that are members of lobbying groups than for those firms that are not.

The Politics of Economic Policy and Performance in Latin America

2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen L. Remmer
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Electoral Competition ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
Policy Choice ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

This study explores variations in macroeconomic policy and performance in contemporary Latin America on the basis of a theoretical model that emphasizes the complex interplay of partisan control of the government, labor strength, and electoral competition. The plausibility of the model is assessed on the basis of a cross-national time series analysis of economic policy choice and performance in nineteen nations. Contrary to the view that internationalization of the world economy leaves limited room for domestic actors and institutions to influence public policy, the findings suggest that macroeconomic performance in contemporary Latin America reflects eminently political processes of policy formation shaped by partisanship, electoral competition, and union strength. The study thereby points to the broader relevance of the literature on the political economy of the advanced industrial democracies, which has emphasized the impact of domestic political institutions, particularly political parties and trade unions, on policy choice and performance.

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