Voting Rules, Turnout, and Economic Policies

Enrico Cantoni, Vincent Pons () and Jerome Schafer
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Enrico Cantoni: Department of Economics, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Vincent Pons: Business, Government and the International Economy, Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Jerome Schafer: Geschwister Scholl Institute of Political Science, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Munich, Germany

Annual Review of Economics, 2025, vol. 17, issue 1, 217-239

Abstract: In recent years, voter ID laws and convenience voting have generated heated partisan debates. To shed light on these policy issues, we survey the evidence on the institutional determinants and effects of voter turnout and broaden the perspective beyond the most debated rules. We begin by discussing the importance of electoral participation both for its consequences on policy choices and for democratic legitimacy. Building on a simple cost–benefit model of voting, we then review (quasi-)experimental research on the effects of voting procedures and of other election rules. Voting procedures primarily affect the cost of participation. The obstacles they create matter more when they occur ahead of the election and when the stakes are not salient, and they matter less when parties mobilize voters against them and when alternative ways to vote exist. Election rules both upstream and downstream from the election operate mostly through benefits, for instance, by affecting electoral competitiveness and the number of candidates. We conclude by highlighting questions for future research.

Keywords: political institutions; causal inference; voter turnout (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D73 J15 P00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:anr:reveco:v:17:y:2025:p:217-239

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DOI: 10.1146/annurev-economics-081624-081637

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