Objectives. The objective of this study is to explore how party systems can affect turnout by exploring the conditional effect of number of parties and party polarization on democracies. Methods. Using Comparative Manifesto Project data from 26 democracies, this study develops a measure of party systems that interacts party polarization and number of parties to explain turnout. Results. Findings show that the composition of the party system as a whole is a key determinate of a voter's propensity to vote. Highly polarized systems with few parties spur individuals to vote, while low levels of polarization and many parties reduce incentives to vote. Conclusions. Results have important implications for theories of turnout, resolving the confusion surrounding how party systems affect political participation.
This article examines how economic hardship and income inequality affect voter turnout across 41 elections from 22 countries. Research on how these factors affect voter turnout has routinely produced uneven results. Furthermore, recent rises in income inequality have led many to revisit how the distribution of resources in society may affect voting. Using multilevel modeling techniques, I find strong evidence that economic hardship negatively affects participation rates for those mainly from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, while income inequality has only marginal effects on overall voter turnout.
Comprender los efectos competitivos de las dificultades económicas y la desigualdad de ingresos en la participación electoralEste artículo examina cómo las dificultades económicas y la desigualdad de ingresos afectan la participación electoral en 41 elecciones de 22 países. La investigación sobre cómo estos factores afectan la participación electoral ha arrojado resultados desiguales de forma rutinaria, además, los recientes aumentos en la desigualdad de ingresos han llevado a muchos a revisar cómo la distribución de recursos en la sociedad puede afectar la votación. Utilizando técnicas de modelado multinivel, encuentro pruebas contundentes de que las dificultades económicas afectan negativamente las tasas de participación para aquellos principalmente de entornos socioeconómicos más bajos, mientras que la desigualdad de ingresos solo tiene efectos marginales en la participación electoral general. Palabras Clave: Comportamiento electoral, Elecciones, Participación electoral, Dificultades económicas, Desigualdad de ingresos, Modelado multinivel, Tasas de participación, Ciudadanía. 理解经济困难和收入不平等对选民投票率产生的竞争性效果 本文就22个国家中的41次选举检验了经济困难和收入不平等如何影 响选民投票率。有关这些因素如何影响选民投票的研究已照例产生 了不统一的结果,此外,近期收入不平等趋势的上升已使得许多学 者重审社会资源分配可能如何影响投票。通过使用多层建模技术, 我发现充足证据证明,经济困难会消极地影响那些主要源于较低社 会经济背景的人士的参与率,而收入不平等对整体选民的投票率仅 存在轻微影响。 关键词: 投票行为, 选举, 选民投票率, 经济困难, 收入不平等, 多层建模, 参与率, 公民身份.
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