Distance matters: The size of countries and the nationalization of politics

Santiago Lago-Peñas and Santiago Lago-Peñas

No 2202, Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization from Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network

Abstract: Relying on global data from democratic elections in 80 countries from 1800 to 2016, we examine whether the general process of nationalization of voting behavior is driven by country size. We argue that in the early stages of democracies in the nineteenth century, local concerns were more diverse and prominent for voters as countries became larger. As a result, national integration should have a stronger effect on the nationalization of electoral politics in large countries. The results from a longitudinal analysis confirm that the process of nationalization is a large-country phenomenon that took place mainly until World War I.

Keywords: country size; democracy; elections; nationalization. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H72 H74 H77 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2022-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-his, nep-ifn and nep-pol
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gov:wpaper:2202

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