Community Cohesion and Voter Turnout in English Parliamentary Constituencies

Eagles, Munroe; Erfle, Stephen E.

doi:10.1017/s0007123400005354

Cited by 38 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…The relationships between turnout, marital status, community residence, and group membership, for instance, all suggest a role for social capital. Those who are part of local networks are more likely to vote than are those who are not (Eagles & Erfle 1989). A similar logic would account for the relationship between age and turnout: older voters have gained more experience and arguably have a greater stake in local (and national) society than have younger voters.…”

Section: Sociological Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 91%

Voter turnout at the british general election of 1992: rational choice, social standing or political efficacy?

Pattie

Johnston

1998

European J Political Res

118

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Analyses of turnout in British general elections fall broadly into two camps: those based on constituency-level data, and those based on survey data. The former stress the importance of local context, while the latter stress personal characteristics and viewpoints. Underlying both are a range of theories purporting to explain turnout. However, to date, there has been little systematic attempt to analyse turnout in the round. In this paper, we combine survey and constituency data to study the individual and contextual correlates of turnout at the British general election and 1992. Constituency level analyses seem to confirm the importance of local context, though it declined during the 1980s. However, and contrary to analyses which employ constituency data only, while individual electors' decisions on whether or not to turn out are influenced by their personal circumstances, they are not influenced by local context.

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Section: Sociological Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 91%

Voter turnout at the british general election of 1992: rational choice, social standing or political efficacy?

Pattie

Johnston

1998

European J Political Res

118

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“…However, they find that class and income level are also important, with those in the highest income and status groupings participating most in elections. Eagles and Erfle (1989) found strong correlations between turnout and owner occupancy. Areas with more homeowners were prone to having enhanced participation rates, because ownership confers a sense of rootedness to a particular place, compared to the instability of renting.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Space matters: Geographic variability of electoral turnout determinants in the 2012 London mayoral election

Mansley

Demšar

2015

Electoral Studies

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Abstract:Electoral participation is an important measure of the health of a liberal democracy. The determinants of voter turnout have been examined across a range of elections, but geographical approaches are relatively rare and are mostly performed at large scale aggregations and for national elections. This paper addresses this gap by exploring geographic variability in relationships between the turnout at a local election and socio-demographic variables at a detailed spatial level. Specifically, we focus on the London mayoral election, an important element of the 21st century local government reform in Britain, which, until now, has seldom been analysed from a geographical perspective. By linking the turnout from the 2012 mayoral election to socio-demographic data from the 2011 Census and doing this at the level of London's 625 wards, for the first time a more detailed picture of the spatially uneven nature of turnout is evidenced than in previous studies which have focused on larger aggregations, typically constituencies. Analysis is approached through spatial analysis using geographically weighted regression (GWR), which enables the investigation of local variations in voting patterns. The results demonstrate that electoral processes do vary over geographic space and that some of the variables that are traditionally assumed to affect the turnout in a specific way, do not do so uniformly over space or even change the direction to the opposite of the traditionally assumed affect in certain locations. Our findings present a starting point for a more detailed investigation as to why this heterogeneity exists and which social processes it relates to.

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“…and Rosenstone, 1980;Verba et al, 1995!. Nonvoters are revealed to be less likely to live in the same community for a long time and0or belong to organizations or associations. They are socially isolated and are less likely to believe in their own abilities to exert influence~Eagles and Erfle, 1989;Straits, 1990;Sabucedo and Cramer, 1991;Ragsdale and Rusk, 1993;Pattie and Johnston, 1998!. Timpone's~1998!…”

Section: Roles Of Social Capital and Civic Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electoral Participation in Municipal, Provincial and Federal Elections in Canada

Nakhaie

2006

Can J Pol Sci

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Abstract.The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of social relations or social capital for voting turnout at three levels of Canadian government, paying particular attention to social contexts, socio-demographics and socio-economic forces. The data source is the Public Use Microdata File from theNational Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participation, administered by Statistics Canada (2001). Results provide support for social capital theory. Those who donate to charities and/or volunteer have a stronger propensity to vote than their counterparts. Two other measures of social capital, social networks and participation in religious activities, are also related to turnout. However, their effects are comparatively modest. Among the social bases of social capital, community rootedness is an important predictor of turnout. Civic engagement or attentiveness to current affairs also significantly increases voter turnout at all levels of Canadian government. Finally, standard socio-economic and demographic predictors of political participation do show independent effects on turnout. However, with the exception of age, these predictors are not as consistent or as strong as social capital measures in explaining turnout. Theoretical and policy implications of the findings are discussed.Résumé.L'objectif de cette étude est de souligner l'importance des relations sociales ou “ capital social ” en ce qui concerne la participation aux élections municipales, provinciales et fédérales au Canada, en prêtant une attention particulière aux contextes sociaux et aux forces socio-démographiques et socio-économiques. Nos données proviennent du fichier de microdonnées à grande diffusion del'Enquête nationale sur le don, le bénévolat et la participation, administré par Statistique Canada (2001). Les résultats vérifient la théorie du capital social. Les gens qui font des dons aux organismes de bienfaisance ou font du bénévolat ont une tendance plus marquée à voter que les autres. Deux autres mesures de capital social, l'appartenance à des réseaux sociaux et la participation à des activités religieuses, ont aussi une corrélation positive avec la participation électorale. Leur impact est cependant relativement limité. Parmi les composantes du capital social, l'enracinement dans la communauté est un indicateur important de participation. L'engagement dans la vie civique ou un intérêt marqué pour les affaires courantes augmentent aussi d'une façon significative la participation aux élections à tous les niveaux gouvernementaux. Finalement, il s'avère que les variables explicatives socio-économiques et démographiques standard de la participation politique ont des effets indépendants sur le vote. Toutefois, à l'exception de l'âge, ces variables ne sont ni aussi constantes ni aussi déterminantes que les mesures du capital social pour expliquer la participation. Nous discutons dans cet article les implications théoriques et politiques de nos conclusions.

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Community Cohesion and Voter Turnout in English Parliamentary Constituencies

Cited by 38 publications

References 10 publications

Voter turnout at the british general election of 1992: rational choice, social standing or political efficacy?

Voter turnout at the british general election of 1992: rational choice, social standing or political efficacy?

Space matters: Geographic variability of electoral turnout determinants in the 2012 London mayoral election

Electoral Participation in Municipal, Provincial and Federal Elections in Canada

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