scholarly journals Explaining Voter Registration Levels in the American States

1992 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 253-265
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Fleury
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Voter Registration ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
American States ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Participation Research ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Relationship

Previous research on political participation typically has centered upon voter turnout, modeling it as a function of socio-demographic and structural factors separately and in conjunction. Using aggregate-level data covering the 1980s, this paper updates and extends previous political participation research in the specific regard of voter registration. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between a state’s voter registration level and its degree of interparty competition. An index of interparty competition for the 1980-1989 period — based upon the Ranney index first employed for the 1948-1960 period and later extended by Bibby et al. to 1974-1980 — is presented here for the first time. However, interparty competition and several other demographic and structural factors that traditionally are cited as contributors to voter turnout are found here to be insignificant for predicting voter registration levels. A socio-demographic factor, racial composition, and a structural factor, the closing date for registration, emerge as the most important predictors of aggregate registration level.

Labor Unions and Voter Turnout in the American States: Direct Versus Indirect Mobilization

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Gidong Kim
Keyword(s):  
Labor Unions ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
State Level ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
American States ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Midterm Elections ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Level Analysis ◽  
Aggregate Strength

Abstract I examine the relationship between labor unions and voter turnout in the American states. Though it is well known that unions increase turnout directly, we know less about their indirect effects. Moreover, the indirect effects may consist of nonmember mobilization and aggregate strength. To examine the direct and indirect mechanisms, I analyze both state-level panel data and individual-level data with a multilevel approach. First, my panel analysis shows that unions are positively associated with turnout as expected. Yet, the association is observed only in midterm elections, but not in presidential elections. Second, more importantly, my individual-level analysis suggests that indirect nonmember mobilization and indirect aggregate strength are positively related to turnout, while direct member mobilization is not. The findings imply that the direct effects are limited and, thus, that decreasing levels of voter turnout due to recently declining union membership come primarily from indirect mobilization rather than direct mobilization.

scholarly journals Do Populist Parties Increase Voter Turnout? Evidence From Over 40 Years of Electoral History in 31 European Democracies

2020 ◽  
pp. 003232172092325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arndt Leininger ◽  
Maurits J Meijers
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Party System ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Empirical Tests ◽  
The Relationship

While some consider populist parties to be a threat to liberal democracy, others have argued that populist parties may positively affect the quality of democracy by increasing political participation of citizens. This supposition, however, has hitherto not been subjected to rigorous empirical tests. The voter turnout literature, moreover, has primarily focused on stable institutional and party system characteristics – ignoring more dynamic determinants of voter turnout related to party competition. To fill this double gap in the literature, we examine the effect of populist parties, both left and right, on aggregate-level turnout in Western and Eastern European parliamentary elections. Based on a dataset on 315 elections in 31 European democracies since 1970s, we find that turnout is higher when populist parties are represented in parliament prior to an election in Eastern Europe, but not in Western Europe. These findings further our understanding of the relationship between populism, political participation and democracy.

scholarly journals Corruption and satisfaction with democracy: the conditional role of electoral disproportionality and ballot control

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Pellegata ◽  
Vincenzo Memoli
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Empirical Results ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy ◽  
Level Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Different Levels

Existing literature has analysed the relationship between electoral systems and either corruption or satisfaction with democracy (SWD) focussing on the traditional distinction between majoritarian and proportional systems. This paper, instead, investigates if and how specific aspects of electoral systems moderate the negative effects of corruption perceptions on SWD. We argue that two mechanisms act simultaneously but at different levels. The first mechanism is the relationship between voters and the national government, while the second links single representatives to their constituents. We advance conditional hypotheses that postulate an attenuating effect of disproportionality and a reinforcing impact of personal vote. Empirical results from 35 elections in 33 democracies, using both individual and aggregate-level data, confirm the research hypotheses. More disproportional electoral systems weaken the impact of citizens’ perceived corruption on their democratic satisfaction, while this is strengthened by systems in which the ballot control is mostly in the hand of the voters.

A Note on Overseas Chinese Political Participation in Urban Malaya

1970 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-178
Author(s):  
Alvin Rabushka
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Large Measure ◽  
Transitional Societies ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Industrial Societies

The object of this note is to demonstrate that generalizations about political participation may be invalid when applied to “developing” or “transitional” societies. Specifically, the relationship between rates of voter turnout and levels of education for urban Chinese in Malaya is not consistent with results reported for Western societies.A geographical classification of bibliographic entries in Lester Milbrath's Political Participation discloses a very interesting statistic: only 3 of the 288 listed entries concern the transitional societies of Asia, Africa and Latin America. The lack of data on developing areas may, in large measure, explain the emphasis placed on studies of political participation in North America and Western Europe. Although there is more research on transitional societies today, most studies still focus on advanced industrial societies. The validity of the generalizations presented in Political Participation, therefore, is restricted to North America and Western Europe.Using data collected in Malaya (1957), I examine four of Milbrath's hypotheses. These include:(1) higher education increases participation (p.122);(2) middle-aged persons participate more than young or old persons (p. 134);(3) men are more likely to participate than women (p. 133); and(4) religion affects participation (p. 137).

scholarly journals The Possibilities of Internet Voting in Jamaica: Moving from Convenience to Fixing the Problem of Voter Apathy among the Youth

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Internet Voting ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Political Apathy ◽  
The Relationship

Recent scholarship recognises the importance of information and communication technologies (ICT), particularly the Internet, and its focus on ways to overcome challenges to political participation. The advent of Internet voting or I‑voting in encouraging youth political participation has been framed within the context of convenience voting which can help to strengthen democracy by encouraging voting, especially among apathetic youth. This paper explores the relationship between Internet voting and youth political participation in the Jamaican society through a survey of 600 youth. The findings suggest that while it may not substantially reduce apathy, which is more intricately linked to perceived overarching systemic failures, Internet voting holds the potential to improve voter turnout at the polls. While convenience was not a major factor driving political apathy, it was an important factor in encouraging participation at the polls.

Local Improvement Districts as Political Participation Signals

2020 ◽  
pp. 147892992096578
Author(s):  
Dan Ziebarth
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Local Improvement ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The Relationship

A significant amount of literature has inspected the relationship between public–private partnerships and state and local government. This literature has focused primarily on how these agreements shape financing, economic development, and public policy measures. There is little research, however, on how improvement districts may affect political participation. There are many reasons to believe that these districts may raise levels of political participation, as they deeply affect state and local politics and shape the socioeconomic development of local communities. This article fills this gap in the literature by exploring the relationship between the establishment of local improvement districts and voter participation rates. An original data set is constructed from 18 state assembly districts and 22 local improvement districts in New York City across nine elections between 2002 and 2018, resulting in 198 unique observations across time. Empirical results reflect how the development of improvement districts can serve as signals for rising political participation in surrounding areas, marked by increasing rates of voter turnout across midterm and presidential-year election cycles. These findings are compelling, providing insight into how local organizations designed and sustained through issue ownership and community collaboration have the ability to raise political participation through electoral activity.

Smartphones and Their Increased Importance in U.S. Presidential Elections

2019 ◽  
pp. 1203-1223
Author(s):  
Ramona Sue McNeal ◽  
Mary Schmeida ◽  
Lisa Dotterweich Bryan
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
Multivariate Regression Analysis ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Election Studies ◽  
The Relationship

Early researchers had predicted that the Internet might help to encourage political participation through its ability to make political information more accessible. Unfortunately, disparities in Internet access made it unlikely that the Internet would have much of an impact on voter turnout. Telecommunication technology has evolved and among these new advances is smartphones, which help to increase Internet access. The purpose of this chapter is to examine this argument by exploring the relationship between smartphone ownership and voting. This topic is explored using multivariate regression analysis and individual level data from the 2012 American National Election Studies. Findings suggest that smartphones are helping to increase voter turnout through their ability to facilitate other online activities such as visiting candidate websites and taking part in political discussion through social networking sites.

Smartphones and their Increased Importance in U.S. Presidential Elections

2017 ◽  
pp. 283-303
Author(s):  
Ramona Sue McNeal ◽  
Mary Schmeida ◽  
Lisa Dotterweich Bryan
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
Multivariate Regression Analysis ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Election Studies ◽  
The Relationship

Early researchers had predicted that the Internet might help to encourage political participation through its ability to make political information more accessible. Unfortunately, disparities in Internet access made it unlikely that the Internet would have much of an impact on voter turnout. Telecommunication technology has evolved and among these new advances is smartphones, which help to increase Internet access. The purpose of this chapter is to examine this argument by exploring the relationship between smartphone ownership and voting. This topic is explored using multivariate regression analysis and individual level data from the 2012 American National Election Studies. Findings suggest that smartphones are helping to increase voter turnout through their ability to facilitate other online activities such as visiting candidate websites and taking part in political discussion through social networking sites.

Examining Specific Deterrence Effects on DWI Among Serious Offenders

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (14) ◽  
pp. 1923-1945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff A. Bouffard ◽  
Nicole Niebuhr ◽  
M. Lyn Exum
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Drunk Driving ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Specific Deterrence ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Legal Sanctions ◽  
Serious Offenders ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Research And Policy ◽  
Subsequent Risk

Deterrence research supports the idea that punishment curbs offending; however, results for the specific deterrent effects of drunk driving are more nuanced. This research is often limited in its use of non-offender samples, its failure to examine links between past sanctions and subsequent risk perceptions, and in its use of aggregate-level data, thereby precluding any exploration of individuals’ perceived sanction risks. The current study examines the relationship between 824 felony inmates’ experiences with formal legal sanctions for drunk driving and their risk perceptions for driving drunk as well as their hypothetical intentions to drive drunk. Results generally fail to support deterrence theory’s propositions, and instead uncover some positive punishment effects (higher drunk driving intentions among those sanctioned previously) net of important theoretical controls. Implications for subsequent research and policy making are presented.

From the Komagata Maru to six Sikh MPs in Parliament : factors influencing electoral political participation in the Canadian-Sikh community

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geetika Singh Bagga
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Immigrant Integration ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Key Informant ◽  
Political Exclusion ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Electoral Performance ◽  
The Relationship

In the span of about 100 years Canadian-Sikhs have negotiated the path from political exclusion to political inclusion. This ethno-specific study focuses on the federal and provincial electoral performance of the Canadian-Sikh community and attempts to answer the following research questions. What factors have contributed to these electoral achievements, and what does having representation mean for the Sikh community -- have the results been substantive or symbolic? The research discuses [sic] a range of internal (community specific) and external (structural) factors that have allowed for such electoral success; and utilizes key informant interviews and a political engagement survey to examine community motivations for having elected representation. The study concludes by raising questions about the traditional interpretation around the nature of immigrant integration and political participation. Also highlighted here is the need for further ethnospecific research that recognizes the complexity of the relationship between the factors that influence political participation across different communities.

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