This dissertation explores how institutional settings regulating the media and campaigns affect voter participation. The broader question is what types of political communication systems are likely to produce the most engaged and participatory citizens as well as equal participation. Assuming that political participation is affected by its underlying costs and benefits, I hypothesize that political communication systems that lower information costs for voters have higher turnout levels and reduce upper class bias. Political communication systems are measured by media systems, access to paid TV advertising, and campaign finance laws. In the country-level turnout models, investigating seventy-four electoral democracies, I find that public broadcasting systems increase voter turnout, while changing the effect of paid advertising. Public broadcasting systems that allow paid TV advertising have a higher turnout levels than those that ban paid advertising. Conversely, paid advertising in private broadcasting systems have a negative marginal effect on voter turnout. On the other hand, campaign finance laws that allow more money to enter election campaigns increase voter participation. So campaign contribution and spending limits depress turnout and public finance increases it. The hierarchical models in Chapter 6 show that political communication systems also change the relationship between individual socioeconomic status and voter participation. Generally political communication environment that lower information costs for voters reduces socioeconomic bias for voters. Public broadcasting systems, access to paid TV ads, and free TV time, thus, mitigate the effect of education on voting. Additional investigation also shows that the age gap between voters and nonvoters is conditioned by different types of political communication systems. Both partisan press and public direct funding promote younger citizens’ participation, thus decreasing the generation gap. In contrast, campaign contribution/expenditure limits enlarge such gap. Broadcasting systems also affect the effect of age on voting. Because older people spend more time watching television than younger ones, the type of broadcasting system has a disproportionately larger impact on older citizens. / text

My dissertation focuses on the effect of several variables on two key forms of political participation -- voting and candidacy. First, I examine how voter turnout is impacted by differences in the intensity of political beliefs across the electorate and the resulting impact on candidate issue choice. Next, I examine the role of term limits and political party recruitment policies in determining the quality of the political class. Finally, I examine the impact of term limits at the lower rungs of the political ladder on the quality of individuals seeking higher office. In Chapter 2, I present a modified version of Downs’ spatial model to analyze the effect on candidates’ policy choices when there is a positive relationship between political extremism and conviction. I assume that alienation and lack of conviction affect voter turnout negatively. I find that the positive relationship between political extremism and conviction leads candidates away from the center and describe the conditions under which segments of the electorate will abstain in equilibrium. Incorporating candidate asymmetry through differences in valence and campaign finances resulted in the strategy of the disadvantaged candidate being unrestricted. Meanwhile, the advantaged candidate can afford to be more centrist or extremist than his opponent in order to win the election. In Chapter 3, I present a multi-period model analyzing the impact of political party recruitment and retention policies and the implementation of term limits on the quality of individuals seeking a career in politics. Candidates differ in political skill and their political skill directly affects the provision of a public good. Term limits lead to a restructuring of the timing of rewards for political careers. I find that term limits increase the probability of entry of those of lesser quality. Under certain conditions, term limits reduce the expected ability of those entering the political arena, as those of higher ability are more adversely affected by the restructuring of rewards. In Chapter 4, I explore the extent to which term limits alter the average quality of office-seekers for higher-level political positions. In addition, I determine whether improvement in quality in upper level political positions comes at the expense of lower level positions. The results suggest that term limits on lower level elected offices reduce the expected political skill of officeholders at this level. Under limited circumstances, term limits will also reduce the expected political skill of those seeking upper level political positions. Under most conditions, term limitation at lower level offices lead to an improvement in the quality of elected officials in upper level offices. / text

This thesis examines political efficacy and youth non-voting in New Zealand. Drawing from a focus group discussion and depth interviews with 20 young people, I compare and contrast the attitudes and experiences of 18-24 year-old voters and non-voters. I assess whether the theory of political efficacy is a useful conceptual tool for distinguishing between their attitudes, and evaluate the ability of efficacy theory to explain youth non-voting in New Zealand. The thesis draws attention to the oft-overlooked benefits of using qualitative methods to conduct political science research. Based on my research, I find that the standard (quantitative) operationalisation of efficacy obscures the complex and nuanced nature of young people's thoughts about politics. Depth interviews and focus groups are found to be valuable means to gain insight into the political attitudes of young people, as - unlike quantitative methods - they allow participants to elucidate themselves using language and ideas of their own. A purposive sampling strategy using snowball referrals also proved to be a useful way to recruit young non-voters, indicating to future researchers that such an approach may be a good way to access disengaged populations. Contrary to the predictions of efficacy theory and to the findings of research in the quantitative tradition, I find fewer differences between young voters and non-voters than expected: the interviews and focus group in fact reveal surprising similarities in the political efficacy of young voters and non-voters. Through my research I identify three types of young non-voters: 'disinterested', 'inconvenienced' and 'principled' non-voters, each of whom give different and diverse explanations for their non-participation. These findings suggest that the usefulness of efficacy theory as an explanation for youth non-voting may have been overstated, and my research highlights the need to remain open to other explanations for youth electoral disengagement - such as rational choice and post-materialist theories.

Il primo capitolo sviluppa un modello di gioco strategico di voto costoso per due candidati dove il processo elettorale può essere illecitamente influenzato da uno dei due. Si assume che vi sono due tipi di meccanismi di frodi elettorali: incidenza diretta sui costi di voto o probabilita’ di pivotality. Si dimostra che la frode può effettivamente aumentare l’affluenza. Per assicurare la vittoria al margine, l’affluenza degli elettori che sostengono entrambe le alternative sono aumentate rispetto ai casi senza frodi. Nel secondo capitolo si stima l'effetto delle frodi elettorali sull'affluenza analizzando un panel di elezioni a livello nazionale in più di 130 paesi dalla fine del 1970. Controllando per una serie di importanti variabili di sistema politico e socioeconomico otteniamo che le frodi a livello intermedio , ceteris paribus , deprimono l'affluenza di circa 3-4 punti percentuali , mentre interventi a livello elevato non hanno alcun effetto significativo. Il terzo capitolo riguarda dinamiche di protezione dei diritti di proprietà nelle economie in transizione che possono influenzati da parte del governo non benevolente. Possiamo osservare dinamiche positive dei diritti di proprietà se un governo e’ relativamente più efficiente ad estrarre rendite dalla redistribuzione del PIL piuttosto che dai pagamenti diretti degli agenti che se ne appropriano, anche con una moderata pressione politica. / In the first chapter a costly strategic voting game over two candidates is modeled and electoral process can be illicitly influenced by one of two candidates. Fraud mechanisms are assumed to be of two types: affecting directly voting costs or pivot probabilities. It is demonstrated that fraud may actually increase turnout. In particular, if it is of a magnitude to ensure a victory at the margin, then participation rates of voters sustaining both alternatives are increased compared to no fraud situation. In the second chapter we estimate the effect of electoral fraud on turnout by analyzing a panel of national level elections in more than 130 countries since the end of 1970s. Controlling for a set of important institutional, political system and socio-economic variables we obtain that medium fraud, ceteris paribus, depresses turnout by around 3-4% points, whereas high fraud has no significant effect. The third chapter deals with dynamics of property rights protection in transition economies, which can be influence by non-benevolent government. Whenever a government is relatively more efficient in extracting private rents from GDP redistribution rather than from direct payments of appropriating agents, positive dynamics in property rights protection can be observed, even with moderate political pressure.

We introduce an electoral pollster in a two-candidate costly voting model to study the incentives that pollsters have regarding the release of poll results. In our model, the pollster has private knowledge about the distribution of citizens\' preferences, but it may report false information to the public. If this happens, we say the pollster is misreporting the poll. An often heard criticism about pollsters is that they might manipulate in order to benefit some candidate. We show that they have incentives to misreport even in the absence of ideological motives. Moreover, misreported polls are welfare-improving relative to truthful polls. / Introduz-se um instituto de pesquisa eleitoral em um modelo de voto custoso a fim de estudar quais incentivos os institutos possuem ao divulgarem suas pesquisas. No nosso modelo, o instituto possui informação privada a respeito da distribuição de preferências da sociedade sobre os candidatos, mas pode escolher reportar incorretamente essa informação ao público. Se isso acontece, diremos que o instituto manipulou a pesquisa eleitoral. Uma preocupação comum das pessoas em relação aos institutos de pesquisa é a possibilidade de eles manipularem uma pesquisa eleitoral com o objetivo direto de beneficiar um determinado candidato. Nós mostramos que eles possuem incentivos para manipular a pesquisa mesmo na ausência de motivações partidárias. Ainda, essa manipulação aumenta o bem-estar da sociedade, em comparação com pesquisas verdadeiras.

The Master's Thesis deals with a potential impact of an introduction of the electronic voting on voter turnout of university students. First section focuses on theoretical foundation and academic debate of this subject. Additionally the current level of implementation of the electronic voting in the Czech Republic, Estonia and worldwide is explored. The hypothesis is formulated as a question whether the introduction of the electronic voting could potentially influence voter turnout of university students. The study is based on a questionnaire survey.

Previous research of the theory of Affective Intelligence holds that anxiety in individuals causes learning behavior. If people are anxious they will actively seek new information. This new information gathered while anxious will cause each individual person to cease acting habitually and begin acting in a manner in line with rational choice models. This thesis addresses three hypotheses; (1) that people who feel anxiety engage in greater information seeking behavior and (2) when people feel anxious they will use information sources that are readily available and efficient to use and (3) anxious individuals will turnout to vote more often than those who are not anxious. I began with the replication of the original research methods of Marcus and MacKuen (1993) and Marcus, Neuman and MacKuen (2000). I then tested hypothesis 1 using new measurements of anxiety in order to address the concerns originally posited by Ladd and Lenz (2008) and Valentino et al. (2008). My final test of hypothesis 1 used revised measurements of anxiety and information derived from 2000-2002 NES Panel data, much in the same manner as Marcus, Neuman and MacKuen (2000). I then tested hypothesis 2 using the same 2000-2002 NES Panel data and an information source change variable. I tested my final hypothesis using pooled NES data from 1984, 1988 and 2000. My findings suggest that as Affective Intelligence predicts, people who feel anxious do tend to seek information. Moreover, when anxious, people will use readily available and efficient information sources. My final finding suggests that although people tend to seek information when anxious this does not necessarily translate into greater participation. Finally, I conclude that the theory of Affective Intelligence is generally correct, but, further research using methods that can better demonstrate the causal direction needs to be undertaken to fully validate Affective Intelligence and more testing of the effect of anxiety on political participation is necessary.

This diploma thesis deals with the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic in view of history, voter turnout and electoral system. The main purpose of the thesis is to present the Senate in terms of broad perspective, based on the analysis of selected parts of the political system. The thesis is a case study which includes an analysis of the Czech Constitution preparations, a voter turnout analysis with the main purpose to present crucial trends and simulation of some variations of qualified plurality rule on existing electoral results of the Senate elections. There is also the theory of bicameralism presented as a part of the theoretical part in the thesis. Based on the analysis the thesis presents extensive conclusions. In the view of history there are historical and ideological circumstances and also political demands of participants in the case of proposing the institution of Senate. The main conclusion on the view of voter turnout is that since 2008 there has been a continual decrease, particularly in run-off. The thesis brings two groups of solution in order that the Senate elections voter turnout might increase. First, technical changes in the electoral act could be made, and second, the whole electoral system in terms of single-round option could be changed. Based on the simulation,...

Voting in an election is the most basic and fundamental form of political participation in a democracy. Citizens are given the opportunity to elect legislators that take political decisions on their behalf. As immigration is increasing globally, many immigrants find themselves with this opportunity for the very first time immigrating from authoritarian regimes. Are immigrants from authoritarian regime able to adapt to their new political setting, or is there an observable difference in voter turnout based on the regime-type of the immigrant’s native country? There exist three branches of theories within the theoretical framework of political resocializa-tion: the theory of exposure, the theory of transferability and the theory of resistance. Previous research on the adaptability of immigrants from authoritarian regimes is often single case stud-ies that only analyse one of the three branches or analyse different forms of political participa-tion and have produced somewhat contradicting results. With empirical evidence remaining the relationship between voter turnout and regime-type is yet to be fully comprehended. By using data from the European Value Survey, this study tests all three theories of political resocializa-tion in 34 countries, to further generate insight into this matter. The results show that immigrants from authoritarian regimes are not less likely to vote in the national election of their new host country. The amount of exposure to the new host country, or whether the immigrant spent his “formative years” in the authoritarian regime are not statisti-cally significant to voting. Age, marital status, education and income are shown to be more statistically significant predictors to voter turnout, compared to regime-type.

Presidentvalet 2020 slog rekord i USA, det slogs inte bara röstningsrekord pån nationell nivå utan flertalet delstater såg det högsta valdeltagandet någonsin. USA har sedan mitten av 1900-talet haft ett mycket lågt valdeltagande. Då presidentvalet 2020 slog ett över 100 år gammalt rekord finns det tecken som tyder på att det amerikanska valdeltagandet blir allt högre. Den här uppsatsen har därför som mål att undersöka och utforska de faktorer som kan ha bidragit till att amerikanerna valde att gå man ur huse för att lägga sina röster. Tidigare studier om valdeltagandet i USA har fokuserat på varför amerikaner inte röstar, den har uppsatsen menar finna en förklaring till varför amerikaner faktiskt röstar och hur det har bidragit till det rekordhöga valdeltagandet. Uppsatsen antar att det är skiftande värderingar som ligger bakom det ökande valdeltagandet, till exempel att bosatta på landsbygden besitter materialistiska värderingar och att stadsbor besitter postmaterialistiska värderingar. Vidare antas det att det under det sena 1900-talet skedde ett kulturellt skifte och att vi idag ser en motreaktion till den vilket har gjort den amerikanska väljaren mer aktiv, samt att den amerikanska väljaren har blivit mer engagerad, både politiskt och icke-politiskt vilket har bidragit till ökad kompetens bland väljarkåren. / The U.S. Presidential election of 2020 was record-breaking. It was the first time in over 100 years that the United States had seen such high voter turnout. Since the mid20th century, the U.S. has seen a very low voter turnout, but it has been on the incline in later years. Therefore, this essay aims to research and explore the potential factors behind the increasing number of voters. Previous studies on voter turnout in the U.S.have focused on why Americans do not vote. This essay, in contrast, aims to find the potential causes as to why the American voter has become more active than previously. The essay assumes that there are different values amongst those living in urban and rural areas, contributing to the increased voter turnout. It is also assumed that there was a shift from materialistic values to post-materialistic values during the latter half of the 20th century, and the increasing number of voters is due to a reaction towards this shift. What is more, the essay assumes that the American voter has become more engaged, both politically and non-politically, making the American voter more competent and more trusting of their abilities.