The Effect of Residential Concentration on Voter Turnout among Ethnic Minorities

Abstract

Utilizing a large and unique dataset composed of government records, we study the widely contested effect of co‐ethnic residential concentrations on voter turnout. Non‐Western immigrants are moderately affected by the concentration of co‐ethnic voters in their neighborhoods. As the local concentration of same‐ethnicity voters increases, so does the individual's propensity to turn out for the election. In general, the concentration of non‐Western immigrants in the neighborhood has only a very limited impact on an immigrant's propensity to vote. Finally, we investigate the possible mobilizing effect of local candidates and, in particular, local co‐ethnic candidates on voter turnout. We find that the presence of candidates in general and co‐ethnic candidates running for office in a neighborhood has a moderate positive mobilization effect. However, taking this factor into account, the effect of residential concentrations was not eliminated.

Politics Feeds Back: The Minority/Majority Turnout Gap and Citizenship in Anti-Immigrant Times

“…While scholars have paid considerable attention to explaining why some groups-in particular those with higher education and income levels-participate more than others, an emerging dividing line in political activity in most Western European societies has received much less scholarly attention: the one between the children of immigrants and the majority population. This is partly because of a lack of data, and partly because existing theories fall short in addressing the particular political environment minority youths face in contemporary Europe.With some cross-country variation, children of immigrants turn out to vote at substantially lower levels than their majority peers (Herzog-Punzenberger et al 2012, 199;Bhatti and Hansen 2017). In the Danish case that I analyze, a series of studies since 1997 have demonstrated that not only do the children of immigrants turn out to vote less than majority Danes, their electoral participation is even lower than that of immigrants (Elklit et al 2004;Bhatti and Hansen 2010;Bhatti et al 2014;2016).…”

“…This is partly because of a lack of data, and partly because existing theories fall short in addressing the particular political environment minority youths face in contemporary Europe.With some cross-country variation, children of immigrants turn out to vote at substantially lower levels than their majority peers (Herzog-Punzenberger et al 2012, 199;Bhatti and Hansen 2017). In the Danish case that I analyze, a series of studies since 1997 have demonstrated that not only do the children of immigrants turn out to vote less than majority Danes, their electoral participation is even lower than that of immigrants (Elklit et al 2004;Bhatti and Hansen 2010;Bhatti et al 2014;2016). In addition, the minority/majority gap has widened since 1997-amounting to thirty-seven percentage points in 2015-even though minority youths are advancing their incorporation in other domains of society, e.g., education (Fallesen 2017;Bhatti and Hansen 2017).…”

Immigrant concentration at the neighbourhood level and bloc voting: The case of Amsterdam

“…Low levels do not provide these resources. Bhatti and Hansen (2016) find effects of ethnic residential concentration on voter turnout once the concentration becomes a critical mass. Dancygier (2017) finds a similar effect on preferential voting in areas of high concentration of Muslims in Belgian municipalities.…”

The potential of immigrant parties: insights from the Dutch case

“…These correlations are not found at low rates of immigrant concentration. Bhatti and Hansen (2016) observe effects of ethnic residential concentration on voter turnout once the concentration becomes a critical mass. Finally, Dancygier (2017) only finds a similar effect on preferential voting for candidates of the same immigrant background in areas of high Muslim immigrant concentration in Belgian municipalities.…”