Candidate-centred electoral systems and voter turnout

    Tutkimustuotos: LehtiartikkeliArtikkeliTieteellinenvertaisarvioitu

    12 Sitaatiot (Scopus)

    Abstrakti

    This study evaluates contradictory theoretical predictions concerning the relationship between the candidate-centredness of electoral systems and voter turnout. Candidate-centredness has been proposed to both stimulate and depress turnout. Cross-sectional time-series data from 36 democracies between 1990 and 2014 are used to test the competing assumptions made about the impact of the personal vote on turnout. Three measures assessing the extent to which electoral systems create incentives to cultivate a personal vote are employed. The results show that turnout is the lowest in candidate-centred systems and the highest in party-centred systems with closed and ordered lists, while controlling for a host of contextual factors that have been linked to aggregate turnout. In addition, the finding that candidate-centredness is negatively related to turnout holds up even when taking into account district magnitude, electoral disproportionality and effective number of parties.
    AlkuperäiskieliEi tiedossa
    Sivut516–533
    Sivumäärä18
    JulkaisuWest European Politics
    Vuosikerta40
    Numero3
    DOI - pysyväislinkit
    TilaJulkaistu - 2017
    OKM-julkaisutyyppiA1 Julkaistu artikkeli, soviteltu

    Keywords

    • Voter turnout
    • electoral systems
    • ballot structure
    • parliamentary elections
    • candidate-centredness

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