Does Political Reservation Affect Voting Behavior? Empirical Evidence from India

Yuko Mori and Takashi Kurosaki

No 2012-09, CEI Working Paper Series from Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University

Abstract: This paper empirically examines the impact of political reservation for disadvantaged groups on voting behavior. Using microdata from the National Election Study of the 2004 parliamentary elections in India, we find that in a reserved constituency, where only members of the disadvantaged castes can stand for election, voters of the disadvantaged castes are encouraged to vote. On the other hand, the system of constituency reservation does not have any impact on the turnout of voters belonging to other groups, including relatively upper caste voters. This finding suggests that political reservation does not crowd out the electoral participation of other groups. These voters, however, tend to vote for the right-wing political party in reserved constituencies. This implies a possibility that the political reservation might provoke a social cleavage along castes in Indian politics.

Keywords: political reservation; affirmative action; voter turnout; political economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 J15 J38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2013-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-pol
Note: 41275
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hit:hitcei:2012-09

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