247
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

The Effect of More Choice on Voter Turnout Causal Evidence from Germany

Received 10 Sep 2023, Accepted 26 Feb 2024, Published online: 13 Mar 2024

References

  • Abadie, Alberto. 2021. “Using Synthetic Controls: Feasibility, Data Requirements, and Methodological Aspects.” Journal of Economic Literature 59 (2): 391–425. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20191450. issn: 00220515.
  • Arkhangelsky, Dmitry, Susan Athey, David A. Hirshberg, Guido W. Imbens, and Stefan Wager. 2021. “Synthetic Difference in Differences.” American Economic Review 111 (12): 4088–4118. https://doi.org/10.9767/BCREC.17.1.12345.46-52. arXiv: 1812.09970. issn: 19447981.
  • Augenblick, Ned, and Scott Nicholson. 2016. “Ballot Position, Choice Fatigue, and Voter Behaviour.” Review of Economic Studies 83 (2): 460–480. https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdv047. issn: 1467937X.
  • Bächtiger, André, John S. Dryzek, Jane Mansbridge, and Mark E. Warren. 2018. “Deliberative Democracy: An Introduction.” In The Oxford Handbook of Deliberative Democracy, edited by André Bächtiger, John S. Dryzek, Jane Mansbridge, and Mark E. Warren, 35–54. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Baujard, Antoinette, Herrade Igersheim, Isabelle Lebon, F. Gavrel, and Jean F. Laslier. 2014. “Who’s Favored by Evaluative Voting? An Experiment Conducted during the 2012 French Presidential Election.” Electoral Studies 34: 131–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2013.11.003. issn: 02613794.
  • Blais, André, John H. Aldrich, Indridi H. Indridason, and Renan Levine. 2006. “Do Voters Vote for Government Coalitions? Testing Downs’ Pessimistic Conclusion.” Party Politics 12 (6): 691–705. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068806068594. issn: 13540688.
  • Blais, André, Jean Francois Daoust, Ruth Dassonneville, and Gabrielle Peloquin-Skulski. 2019. “What Is the Cost of Voting?” Electoral Studies 59 (August 2018): 145–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2019.02.011. issn: 02613794.
  • Blumenau, Jack, Andrew C. Eggers, Dominik Hangartner, and Simon Hix. 2017. “Open/Closed List and Party Choice: Experimental Evidence from the UK.” British Journal of Political Science 47 (4): 809–827. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123415000629. issn: 0007-1234.
  • Bowler, Shaun, Gail McElroy, and Stefan Müller. 2018. “Voter Preferences and Party Loyalty under Cumulative Voting: Political Behaviour after Electoral Reform in Bremen and Hamburg.” Electoral Studies 51 (December 2017): 93–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2017.10.001. issn: 02613794.
  • Bräuninger, Thomas, Thomas Däubler, Robert Huber, and Lukas Rudolph. 2022. “How Open Lists Undermine the Electoral Support of Cohesive Parties.” British Journal of Political Science 52 (4): 1931–1943. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123421000417. issn: 0007-1234, 1469-2112.
  • Bürndnis 90/DIE GRUNEN in der Bremischen Bürgerschaft. 2006. “Volksbegehren Signal¨ Fu¨r Politik.” Accessed September 8, 2021. https://www.gruene-fraktion-bremen.de/presse/pressearchiv/presse-2006/volksbegehren-signal-fuer-politik/?L=0.
  • Carey, John M., and Simon Hix. 2011. “The Electoral Sweet Spot: Low-Magnitude Proportional Electoral Systems.” American Journal of Political Science 55 (2): 383–397. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2010.00495.x. issn: 0092-5853.
  • Carey, John M., and Matthew Soberg Shugart. 1995. “Incentives to Cultivate a Personal Vote: A Rank Ordering of Electoral Formulas.” Electoral Studies 14 (4): 417–439. https://doi.org/10.1016/0261-3794(94)00035-2. issn: 02613794.
  • Clarke, Damian, Daniel Pailañir, Susan Carleton Athey, and Guido W. Imbens. 2023. “Synthetic Difference-in-Differences Estimation.” SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4346540. issn: 1556-5068.
  • Cohen, Mollie J. 2018. “A Dynamic Model of the Invalid Vote: How a Changing Candidate Menu Shapes Null Voting Behavior.” Electoral Studies 53: 111–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2018.04.015. issn: 02613794.
  • Coupé, Tom, and Abdul G. Noury. 2004. “Choosing Not to Choose: On the Link between Information and Abstention.” Economics Letters 84 (2): 261–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2004.01.012. issn: 01651765.
  • Cox, Gary W. 1999. “Electoral Rules and the Calculus of Mobilization.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 24 (3): 387. https://doi.org/10.2307/440350. issn: 03629805.
  • Cunow, Saul Frederick. 2014. Vote Choice in Complex Electoral Environments.
  • Cunow, Saul, Scott Desposato, Andrew Janusz, and Cameron Sells. 2021. “Less is More: The Paradox of Choice in Voting Behavior.” Electoral Studies 69 (December 2020): 102230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2020.102230. issn: 02613794.
  • Dalton, Russell J., and Martin P. Wattenberg. 2000. Parties without Partisans: Political Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Däubler, Thomas, and Simon Hix. 2018. “Ballot Structure, List Flexibility and Policy Representation.” Journal of European Public Policy 25 (12): 1798–1816. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2017.1361465.
  • David, Klaus. 2010. “Wechselfälle Des Wahlrechts in Hamburg. Oder: Die Verhinderung Eines Weiteren Volksentscheids.” Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen 41 (3): 598–622. https://doi.org/10.5771/0340-1758-2010-3-598
  • Decker, Frank. 2007. “Parlamentarische Demokratie versus Volksgesetzgebung. Der Streit Um Ein Neues Wahlrecht in Hamburg.” Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen 38 (1): 118–133. https://doi.org/10.5771/0340-1758-2007-1-118
  • Downs, Anthony. 1957. “An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy.” Journal of Political Economy 65 (2): 135–150. https://doi.org/10.1086/257897. issn: 0022-3808.
  • Farrell, David M., and I. A. N. Mcallister. 2006. “Voter Satisfaction and Electoral Systems: Does Preferential Voting in Candidate-Centred Systems Make a Difference ?” European Journal of Political Research 45 (5): 723–749. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2006.00633.x
  • Feddersen, Timothy J., and Wolfgang Pesendorfer. 1996. “The Swing Voter’ s Curse.” The American Economic Review 86 (3): 408–424.
  • Folke, Olle, and Johanna Rickne. 2020. “Who Wins Preference Votes? An Analysis of Party Loyalty, Ideology, and Accountability to Voters.” Journal of Theoretical Politics 32 (1): 11–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/0951629819893028. issn: 14603667.
  • Fournier, Patrick, Henk Van der Kolk, R. Kenneth Carty, André Blais, and Jonathan Rose. 2011. When Citizens Decide: Lessons from Citizen Assemblies on Electoral Reform. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Gallego, Aina. 2010. “Understanding Unequal Turnout: Education and Voting in Comparative Perspective.” Electoral Studies 29 (2): 239–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2009.11.002. issn: 02613794.
  • Hix, Simon, and Sara Hagemann. 2009. “Could Changing the Electoral Rules Fix European Parliament Elections?” Politique européenne 28 (2): 37. https://doi.org/10.3917/poeu.028.0037. issn: 1623-6297.
  • Horst, Patrick. 2011. “Das neue Hamburger Wahlrecht auf dem Prüfstand: kontraproduktiv, aber schwer reformierbar.” Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen 42 (4): 707–724. https://doi.org/10.5771/0340-1758-2011-4-707. issn: 03401758.
  • Iyengar, S., Wei Jiang, and Gur Huberman. 2004. “How Much Choice is Too Much? Contributions to 401 (k) Retirement Plans.” Pension Design and Structure: New Lessons from Behavioral Finance 401 (2003): 1–21.
  • Iyengar, Sheena S., and Mark R. Lepper. 2000. “When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 79 (6): 995. issn: 1939-1315. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.79.6.995
  • Jankowski, Michael. 2016. “Voting for Locals: Voters’ Information Processing Strategies in Open-List PR Systems.” Electoral Studies 43: 72–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2016.06.005. issn: 02613794.
  • Jankowski, Michael, Cord Jakobeit, Philipp Hiller, and Nils Thomsen. 2013. “Mehr Wahl, Mehr Qual? Zum Zusammenhang von Wahlbeteiligung Und Neuem Wahlrecht in Hamburg.” Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen 44 (2): 264–275. https://doi.org/10.5771/0340-1758-2013-2-264. issn: 0340-1758.
  • Karvonen, Lauri. 2004. “Preferential Voting: Incidence and Effects.” International Political Science Review 25 (2): 203–226. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512104041283. issn: 01925121.
  • Kostelka, Filip, Eva Krejcova, Nicolas Sauger, and Alexander Wuttke. 2023. “Election Frequency and Voter Turnout.” Comparative Political Studies 56 (14): 2231–2268. https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140231169020. issn: 0010-4140, 1552-3829.
  • Kranz, Sebastian. 2022. Synthetic Difference-in-Differences with Time-Varying Covariates.
  • Kselman, Daniel M. 2020. “Public Goods Equilibria under Closed- and Open-List Proportional Representation.” Journal of Theoretical Politics 32 (1): 112–142. https://doi.org/10.1177/0951629819895808. issn: 14603667.
  • Langer, Ana Inés. 2007. “A Historical Exploration of the Personalisation of Politics in the Print Media: The British Prime Ministers (1945–1999).” Parliamentary Affairs 60 (3): 371–387. https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsm028. issn: 1460-2482.
  • Lassen, David Dreyer. 2005. “The Effect of Information on Voter Turnout: Evidence from a Natural Experiment.” American Journal of Political Science 49 (1): 103–118. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0092-5853.2005.00113.x. issn: 00925853.
  • Lau, Richard R., and David P. Redlawsk. 2010. “Voting Correctly.” In How Voters Decide, Vol. 91, Issue 3, 202–228. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791048.011.
  • Laver, Michael. 2004. “Analysing Structures of Party Preference in Electronic Voting Data.” Party Politics 10 (5): 521–541. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068804045386. issn: 1354-0688.
  • Lefkofridi, Zoe, Nathalie Giger, and Aina Gallego. 2014. “Electoral Participation in Pursuit of Policy Representation: Ideological Congruence and Voter Turnout.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties 24 (3): 291–311. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2013.846347. issn: 1745-7289, 1745-7297.
  • Marcinkiewicz, Kamil, and Michael Jankowski. 2014. “When There’s No Easy Way Out: Electoral Law Reform and Ballot Position Effects in the 2011 Hamburg State Elections.” German Politics 23 (1-2), nos. 1-2: 103–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644008.2014.916692. issn: 0964-4008, 1743-8993.
  • Matsusaka, John G. 1995. “Explaining Voter Turnout Patterns: An Information Theory.” Public Choice 84 (1-2): 91–117. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01047803. issn: 00485829.
  • Mattila, Mikko. 2003. “Why Bother? Determinants of Turnout in the European Elections.” Electoral Studies 22 (3): 449–468. https://doi.org/10.1016/S02613794(01)00054-3. issn: 02613794.
  • Müller, Stefan, and Michael Jankowski. 2019. “Do Voters Really Prefer More Choice? Determinants of Support for Personalised Electoral Systems.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties 29 (2): 262–281. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2018.1515211. issn: 1745-7289.
  • Muraoka, Taishi. 2021. “The Electoral Implications of Politically Irrelevant Cues under Demanding Electoral Systems.” Political Science Research and Methods 9 (2): 312–326. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2019.37. issn: 2049-8470.
  • Mustillo, Thomas, and John Polga-Hecimovich. 2018. “Measures and Votes: Party Performance under Free List Proportional Representation with Evidence from Ecuador.” Electoral Studies, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2018.09.011. issn: 02613794.
  • Olden, Andreas, and Jarle Møen. 2022. “The Triple Difference Estimator.” The Econometrics Journal 25 (3): 531–553. https://doi.org/10.1093/ectj/utac010. issn: 1368-4221, 1368-423X.
  • Passarelli, Gianluca. 2020. Preferential Voting Systems: Influence on Intra-Party Competition and Voting Behaviour. Cham: Palgrave MacMillan. isbn: 978-3-030-25285-4.
  • Persson, Torsten, Guido Tabellini, and Francesco Trebbi. 2003. “Electoral Rules and Corruption.” Journal of the European Economic Association 1 (4): 958–989. https://doi.org/10.1162/154247603322493203. issn: 15424766.
  • Probst, Lothar. 2011. “Effekte Der Neuen Wahlsysteme in Hamburg Und Bremen.” Arbeitsbereich Wahl-, Parteien- und Partizipationsforschung am Institut fu¨r Politikwissenschaft der Universit¨at Bremen.
  • Probst, Lothar, and Alexander Gattig. 2012. Das Neue Wahlsystem in Bremen : Auswertung Und Analyse Der Kommunikationskampagne Und Der Wirkungen Des Neuen Wahlsystems ; Ein Forschungsbericht Für Die Bremische Bürgerschaft. isbn: 978-3-88722-728-9.
  • Probst, Lothar, and Valentin Schröder. 2015. Das Bremer Wahlsystem: Intransparent, Paradox Und Möglicherweise Verfassungswidrig. Bremen: Institut für Politikwissenschaft Universita¨t Bremen.
  • Reilly, Benjamin. 2001. Democracy in Divided Societies: Electoral Engineering for Conflict Management. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Renwick, Alan. 2010. The Politics of Electoral Reform. Changing the Rules of Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Renwick, Alan, and Jean-Benoit Pilet. 2016. Faces on the Ballot: The Personalization of Electoral Systems in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Riker, William H., and Peter C. Ordeshook. 1968. “A Theory of the Calculus of Voting.” Political Science 62 (1): 25–42.
  • Robbins, Joseph W. 2010. “The Personal Vote and Voter Turnout.” Electoral Studies 29 (4): 661–672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2010.07.001. issn: 02613794.
  • Sanz, Carlos. 2017. “The Effect of Electoral Systems on Voter Turnout: Evidence from a Natural Experiment.” Political Science Research and Methods 5 (4): 689–710. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2015.54. issn: 2049-8470.
  • Scarrow, Susan E. 2001. “Direct Democracy and Institutional Change: A Comparative Investigation.” Comparative Political Studies 34 (6): 651–665. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414001034006003
  • Schäfer, Armin, and Harald Schoen. 2013. “Mehr Demokratie, Aber Nur Für Wenige?” Leviathan 41 (1): 94–120. https://doi.org/10.5771/0340-0425-2013-1-94
  • Schwartz, Barry. 2003. The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less. New York, NY: Harper-Collins.
  • Shugart, Matthew S., and Martin P. Wattenberg. 2001. Mixed-Member Electoral Systems: The Best of Both Worlds? New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Söderlund, Peter. 2017. “Candidate-Centred Electoral Systems and Voter Turnout.” West European Politics 40 (3): 516–533. https://doi.org/10.1080/014023822016.1271599. issn: 17439655.
  • Tiefenbach, Paul. 2006. “Kumulieren, Panaschieren, Mehrmandatswahlkreise — Mehr Demokratie Beim Wahlrecht?” Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen 37 (1): 115–125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11619-006-0010-z. issn: 0340-1758.
  • Tversky, Amos, and Daniel Kahneman. 1974. “Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Biases in Judgments Reveal Some Heuristics of Thinking under Uncertainty.” Science 185 (4157): 1124–1131. issn: 00368075 (ISSN). pmid: 17835457. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.185.4157.1124
  • Van Aelst, Peter, Tamir Sheafer, and James Stanyer. 2012. “The Personalization of Mediated Political Communication: A Review of Concepts, Operationalizations and Key Findings.” Journalism 13 (2): 203–220. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884911427802. issn: 1464-8849.
  • Vetter, Angelika. 2015. “Just a Matter of Timing? Local Electoral Turnout in Germany in the Context of National and European Parliamentary Elections.” German Politics 24 (1): 67–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644008.2014.984693. issn: 0964-4008, 1743-8993..

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.