The effect of electoral systems on voter turnout: evidence from a natural experiment

Carlos Sanz

No 1623, Working Papers from Banco de España

Abstract: I exploit the unique institutional framework of Spanish local elections, where municipalities follow different electoral systems depending on their population size, as mandated by a national law. Using a regression discontinuity design, I compare turnout under closed-list proportional representation and under an open-list, plurality-at-large system where voters can vote for individual candidates from the same or different party lists. I find that the openlist system increases turnout by between one and two percentage points. The results suggest that open-list systems, which introduce competition both across and within parties, are conducive to greater voter turnout.

Keywords: voter turnout; electoral system; open list; regression discontinuity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2016-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm and nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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http://www.bde.es/f/webbde/SES/Secciones/Publicaci ... /16/Fich/dt1623e.pdf First version, October 2016 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The Effect of Electoral Systems on Voter Turnout: Evidence from a Natural Experiment* (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bde:wpaper:1623

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