Best of both worlds? independent lists and voter turnout in local elections

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Tavares, António F.
Data de Publicação: 2020
Outros Autores: Raudla, Ringa, Silva, Tiago
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
Texto Completo: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/83206
Resumo: How does the presence of independent lists influence voter turnout in municipal and sub-municipal elections? Despite the persistence of independent lists in local elections of European countries, this question has remained underexplored. Our paper examines the influence of independent lists on voter turnout both theoretically and empirically. In the theoretical discussion, we outline two competing hypotheses. On one hand, the best of both worlds hypothesis predicts that owing to increased choice for the voters, the presence of nonpartisan lists would increase voter turnout. On the other hand, the competing hypothesis suggests the opposite due to higher information costs associated with independent lists. We test our hypotheses using data from four election cycles of Portuguese municipal and sub-municipal levels of government. Since 2001, Portugal’s electoral law allows the participation of nonpartisan lists of candidates in local elections. The empirical analysis employs fractional probit and beta regression models and finds strong support for the best of both worlds hypothesis, both at the municipal and the sub-municipal levels.
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spelling Best of both worlds? independent lists and voter turnout in local electionsnonpartisanelectionsvoter turnoutindependent candidateslocal listsPortugalCiências Sociais::Ciências PolíticasHow does the presence of independent lists influence voter turnout in municipal and sub-municipal elections? Despite the persistence of independent lists in local elections of European countries, this question has remained underexplored. Our paper examines the influence of independent lists on voter turnout both theoretically and empirically. In the theoretical discussion, we outline two competing hypotheses. On one hand, the best of both worlds hypothesis predicts that owing to increased choice for the voters, the presence of nonpartisan lists would increase voter turnout. On the other hand, the competing hypothesis suggests the opposite due to higher information costs associated with independent lists. We test our hypotheses using data from four election cycles of Portuguese municipal and sub-municipal levels of government. Since 2001, Portugal’s electoral law allows the participation of nonpartisan lists of candidates in local elections. The empirical analysis employs fractional probit and beta regression models and finds strong support for the best of both worlds hypothesis, both at the municipal and the sub-municipal levels.FundingThis work was supported by the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional DevelopmentFund (EFDR) [SmartEGOV: Harnessing EGOV for Smart Governance (F]; the Portuguese Science and TechnologyFoundation (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) [PEst-OE/CJP/UI0758/2014], and the Estonian Research Council[PUT-1142].Taylor & FrancisUniversidade do MinhoTavares, António F.Raudla, RingaSilva, Tiago2020-032020-03-01T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/1822/83206engAntónio F. Tavares, Ringa Raudla & Tiago Silva (2020) Best of both worlds? Independent lists and voter turnout in local elections, Journal of Urban Affairs, 42:7, 955-974, DOI: 10.1080/07352166.2019.16236820735-216610.1080/07352166.2019.1623682https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07352166.2019.1623682info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2023-07-21T12:16:50Zoai:repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt:1822/83206Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T19:09:26.667300Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Best of both worlds? independent lists and voter turnout in local elections
title Best of both worlds? independent lists and voter turnout in local elections
spellingShingle Best of both worlds? independent lists and voter turnout in local elections
Tavares, António F.
nonpartisan
elections
voter turnout
independent candidates
local lists
Portugal
Ciências Sociais::Ciências Políticas
title_short Best of both worlds? independent lists and voter turnout in local elections
title_full Best of both worlds? independent lists and voter turnout in local elections
title_fullStr Best of both worlds? independent lists and voter turnout in local elections
title_full_unstemmed Best of both worlds? independent lists and voter turnout in local elections
title_sort Best of both worlds? independent lists and voter turnout in local elections
author Tavares, António F.
author_facet Tavares, António F.
Raudla, Ringa
Silva, Tiago
author_role author
author2 Raudla, Ringa
Silva, Tiago
author2_role author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Universidade do Minho
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Tavares, António F.
Raudla, Ringa
Silva, Tiago
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv nonpartisan
elections
voter turnout
independent candidates
local lists
Portugal
Ciências Sociais::Ciências Políticas
topic nonpartisan
elections
voter turnout
independent candidates
local lists
Portugal
Ciências Sociais::Ciências Políticas
description How does the presence of independent lists influence voter turnout in municipal and sub-municipal elections? Despite the persistence of independent lists in local elections of European countries, this question has remained underexplored. Our paper examines the influence of independent lists on voter turnout both theoretically and empirically. In the theoretical discussion, we outline two competing hypotheses. On one hand, the best of both worlds hypothesis predicts that owing to increased choice for the voters, the presence of nonpartisan lists would increase voter turnout. On the other hand, the competing hypothesis suggests the opposite due to higher information costs associated with independent lists. We test our hypotheses using data from four election cycles of Portuguese municipal and sub-municipal levels of government. Since 2001, Portugal’s electoral law allows the participation of nonpartisan lists of candidates in local elections. The empirical analysis employs fractional probit and beta regression models and finds strong support for the best of both worlds hypothesis, both at the municipal and the sub-municipal levels.
publishDate 2020
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2020-03
2020-03-01T00:00:00Z
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/1822/83206
url https://hdl.handle.net/1822/83206
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv António F. Tavares, Ringa Raudla & Tiago Silva (2020) Best of both worlds? Independent lists and voter turnout in local elections, Journal of Urban Affairs, 42:7, 955-974, DOI: 10.1080/07352166.2019.1623682
0735-2166
10.1080/07352166.2019.1623682
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07352166.2019.1623682
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Taylor & Francis
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Taylor & Francis
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação
instacron:RCAAP
instname_str Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação
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institution RCAAP
reponame_str Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
collection Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
repository.name.fl_str_mv Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação
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