 Gaining voter support for watershed protectionMelissa M. Kreye, Damian Adams and Jeffrey D. Kline Land Use Policy, 2019, vol. 89, issue C Abstract: Public officials and stakeholders who want to advance watershed protection may want to consider how ballot referendum design can serve as a nudge in voting behaviors. We extend the research literature on voter preferences by using behavioral economics theory to provide new insights into voter behaviors towards watershed conservation referendums. We drew upon observations from 76 separate watershed protection referendums, conducted in the eastern U.S. from 1991 to 2013, and evaluated the wording of the ballot statement to determine their potential influence on voter support and the psychology of voting. Data were fitted to weighted least squares regression models to allow for broader inferences about voting behaviors. We found shorter ballot referendums with broad or vague descriptions of expected benefits and fewer descriptions of funding mechanisms likely increased the perceived odds of a favorable outcome and subsequently increased likelihood of a yes vote. Keywords: Watershed protection; Ballot referendums and referenda; Ecosystem services; Nudge; Voter behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:89:y:2019:i:c:s0264837718313632 DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104227 Access Statistics for this article Land Use Policy is currently edited by Jaap Zevenbergen More articles in Land Use Policy from Elsevier |
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