Candidate-centred electoral systems and voter turnout

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWest European politics Vol. 40; no. 3; pp. 516 - 533
Main Author Söderlund, Peter
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Routledge 04.05.2017
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Apportionment
ballot structure
candidate-centredness
Election results
Elections
Electoral results
Electoral systems
Incentives
parliamentary elections
Voter behavior
Voter turnout
Voting
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Summary: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.
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ISSN:0140-2382
1743-9655
DOI:10.1080/01402382.2016.1271599