The influence of the number of statewide legislative referendums on voter participation in the US

Richard Cebula () and Christopher Coombs ()

Applied Economics, 2011, vol. 43, issue 21, 2823-2831

Abstract: This empirical study seeks to broaden the interpretation of the 'rational voter model' so as to include the potential effects of the number of statewide legislative referendums. This study tests the hypothesis that greater numbers of such referendums increase voter turnout because they elevate the Expected Gross Benefits (EGB) of voting by 'empowering voters' while not significantly increasing the Expected Gross Costs (EGC) of voting. Using state-level data for the 2006 general election in the US, as well as the 2004 US Presidential election, and after allowing for a variety of economic and demographic factors, this study finds compelling evidence that the number of statewide legislative referendums does significantly increase voter turnout.

Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00036840903389820 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:applec:v:43:y:2011:i:21:p:2823-2831

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RAEC20

DOI: 10.1080/00036840903389820

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Economics is currently edited by Anita Phillips

More articles in Applied Economics from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().