Should voting be mandatory? The effect of compulsory voting rules on candidates’ political platforms

Mauricio Bugarin and Adriana Portugal
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Mauricio Bugarin: University of Brasilia
Adriana Portugal: Tribunal de Contas do Distrito Federal

Journal of Applied Economics, 2015, vol. 18, 1-20

Abstract: This article analyzes the effect of political participation in the electoral process on parties’ announced platforms in a model of electoral competition. The model highlights the existence of a class bias that favors groups of voters with higher turnout. There exists empirical evidence that wealthier economic classes present higher levels of political participation. In that situation, the model suggests that compulsory voting may be a useful mechanism to reduce the bias in favor of the higher-turnout class.

Keywords: electoral competition; asymmetric voter turnout; higher-turnout class bias; compulsory voting; voluntary voting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cem:jaecon:v:18:y:2015:n:1:p:1-20

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