Turnout and polarization under alternative electoral systems

Matakos, Konstantinos and Troumpounis, Orestis and Xefteris, Dimitrios (2015) Turnout and polarization under alternative electoral systems. In: The political economy of governance : institutions, political performance and elections. Studies in Political Economy . Springer, pp. 335-362. ISBN 9783319155500

Abstract

This chapter presents a formal model of electoral competition where parties’ platforms are endogenously chosen and depend on the degree of the electoral rule disproportionality. We first show that proportional electoral systems generate centrifugal forces that increase candidate differentiation. This in turn implies that more proportional systems are associated with lower levels of abstention from indifference. This two-step theoretical prediction of the effect of electoral systems on turnout is then empirically validated even when we jointly control for the prevailing pivotality and party-system size hypotheses. Thus, our work highlights an additional link in the proportionality-turnout nexus.