Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-2001

Abstract

Theory suggests that majoritarian/plurality elections depress voter participation and that proportional election systems encourage greater voter mobilization and turnout. We examine the effect that cumulative voting (CV) has on turnout in local elections in the U.S. Variation in social/cultural context is largely held constant by our design while election system varies, allowing us to identify the unique effect CV has on turnout. We test if turnout is higher when CV is used in the same context as plurality rules. Consistent with expectations about institutional effects, turnout is about 5 percentage points higher under CV than in similar plurality elections.

Publication Title

The Journal of Politics

Volume

63

Issue

3

First Page

902

Last Page

915

Required Publisher's Statement

The Journal of Politics / Volume 63 / Issue 03 / August 2001, pp 902-915
Copyright © Southern Political Science Association 2001
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/0022-3816.00093 (About DOI), Published online: 29 July 2008

Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Southern Political Science Association

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2691719

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Proportional representation--United States; Voting, Plural--United States;

Geographic Coverage

United States

Genre/Form

articles

Type

Text

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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