David and Goliath in the Poll Booth: Group Size, Voting Power and Voter Turnout

Peter Bönisch, Benny Geys and Claus Michelsen

No 1491, Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin from DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research

Abstract: This article analyses how the presence of a dominant group of voters within the electorate affects voter turnout. Theoretically, we argue that both the absolute size and the relative power of a dominant group influence voters' decision-making process. The former effect derives from increased free-riding incentives and reduced social pressure to vote within a larger dominant group, while the latter effect is driven by instrumental and expressive responses-in both the dominant and dominated groups-to electoral competition between groups. Our empirical analysis of a large cross-section of German municipalities confirms this joint importance of a dominant group's absolute and relative size for voter turnout. Such effects should thus be taken into account when redesigning electoral jurisdictions through, for instance, municipal mergers or gerrymandering.

Keywords: Voter turnout; power; group size; merger; gerrymandering (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D70 D72 H11 H40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 p.
Date: 2015
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm and nep-pol
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1491

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