Best of both worlds? Independent lists and voter turnout in local elections

Abstract

How does the presence of independent lists influence voter turnout in municipal and submunicipal elections? Despite the persistence of independent lists in local elections of European countries, this question has remained underexplored. Our paper examines the influence of independent lists on voter turnout both theoretically and empirically. In the theoretical discussion, we outline two competing hypotheses. On one hand, the best of both worlds hypothesis predicts that owing to increased choice for the voters the presence of nonpartisan lists would increase voter turnout. On the other hand, the competing hypothesis suggests the opposite due to higher information costs associated with independent lists. We test our hypotheses using data from four election cycles of Portuguese municipal and sub-municipal levels of government. Since 2001, Portugal's electoral law allows the participation of nonpartisan lists of candidates in local elections. The empirical analysis employs fractional probit and beta regression models and finds strong support for the best of both worlds hypothesis, both at the municipal and the sub-municipal levels.

Land use management: local institutions and the power to shape

“…The first lesson extracted from this overview of the literature is the significant opportunity for extending research on this topic in Europe to investigate the effects of different local institutions on land use management practices. There is a growing collection of literature in European political science investigating the effects on voter turnout of reforms such as directly elected mayors, single-member district representation, and non-partisan candidates (Gendźwiłł and Żółtak, 2017;Tavares et al, 2020). Given the highly distributive (and divisive) nature of most land use policies, the time has come to expand this research to understand how these reforms of local institutions shape land use policy choices in European countries belonging to different planning families (Newman and Thornley, 2002).…”

Voice, responsiveness, and alternative policy venues: An analysis of citizen complaints against the local government to the national Ombudsman

“…Lastly, a dummy variable is included for the presence of mayors elected in nonpartisan (independent) lists. Given the current trend in Portuguese local elections towards the election of nonpartisan mayors, this can capture some of the dissatisfaction with local partisan politics (Tavares et al 2020).…”

A análise das Leis Orgânicas Municipais a partir do constitucionalismo na Ciência Política

“…Cabe lembrar que os municípios não podem incluir os estrangeiros residentes entre os eleitores, como acontece nos Estados Unidos(Richman et al, 2014), em eleições locais na Europa (Kayran e Erdilmen, 2020) e em poucos países da América Latina(Pompeu et al, 2016).5 O pano de fundo é a opção em muitos países pela possibilidade de candidaturas independentes em eleições locais(Brancati, 2008;Scarrow, 2000;Tavares et al, 2020).…”