The Cost of Voting and the Cost of Votes

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The Cost of Voting and the Cost of Votes. / Woller, Anders; Justesen, Mogens K.; Hariri, Jacob Gerner.

In: The Journal of Politics, Vol. 85, No. 2, 2023, p. 593-608.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Woller, A, Justesen, MK & Hariri, JG 2023, 'The Cost of Voting and the Cost of Votes', The Journal of Politics, vol. 85, no. 2, pp. 593-608. https://doi.org/10.1086/722047

APA

Woller, A., Justesen, M. K., & Hariri, J. G. (2023). The Cost of Voting and the Cost of Votes. The Journal of Politics, 85(2), 593-608. https://doi.org/10.1086/722047

Vancouver

Woller A, Justesen MK, Hariri JG. The Cost of Voting and the Cost of Votes. The Journal of Politics. 2023;85(2):593-608. https://doi.org/10.1086/722047

Author

Woller, Anders ; Justesen, Mogens K. ; Hariri, Jacob Gerner. / The Cost of Voting and the Cost of Votes. In: The Journal of Politics. 2023 ; Vol. 85, No. 2. pp. 593-608.

Bibtex

@article{87ba18cc7d014f3ba5b4e69f506aec5b,
title = "The Cost of Voting and the Cost of Votes",
abstract = "In new democracies, political parties often use clientelist strategies to mobilize voters during elections. In this article, we show that political machines systematically use vote buying to target voters with low costs of voting. We employ a geocoded survey of 3,192 respondents collected immediately after the municipal elections of 2016 in South Africa. We combine the survey data with administrative data on the geographical location of more than 22,600 polling stations. Our identification strategy exploits discontinuities in distances to vote generated by voting district boundaries in South Africa. This allows us to proxy the cost of voting with distance to the polling station and estimate the causal effect of the cost of voting on parties{\textquoteright} use of vote buying. The results have important implications for core assumptions concerning parties{\textquoteright} targeting strategies and for how electoral institutions shape the linkage strategies parties use to mobilize political support.",
author = "Anders Woller and Justesen, {Mogens K.} and Hariri, {Jacob Gerner}",
year = "2023",
doi = "10.1086/722047",
language = "English",
volume = "85",
pages = "593--608",
journal = "Journal of Politics",
issn = "0022-3816",
publisher = "University of Chicago Press",
number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Cost of Voting and the Cost of Votes

AU - Woller, Anders

AU - Justesen, Mogens K.

AU - Hariri, Jacob Gerner

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - In new democracies, political parties often use clientelist strategies to mobilize voters during elections. In this article, we show that political machines systematically use vote buying to target voters with low costs of voting. We employ a geocoded survey of 3,192 respondents collected immediately after the municipal elections of 2016 in South Africa. We combine the survey data with administrative data on the geographical location of more than 22,600 polling stations. Our identification strategy exploits discontinuities in distances to vote generated by voting district boundaries in South Africa. This allows us to proxy the cost of voting with distance to the polling station and estimate the causal effect of the cost of voting on parties’ use of vote buying. The results have important implications for core assumptions concerning parties’ targeting strategies and for how electoral institutions shape the linkage strategies parties use to mobilize political support.

AB - In new democracies, political parties often use clientelist strategies to mobilize voters during elections. In this article, we show that political machines systematically use vote buying to target voters with low costs of voting. We employ a geocoded survey of 3,192 respondents collected immediately after the municipal elections of 2016 in South Africa. We combine the survey data with administrative data on the geographical location of more than 22,600 polling stations. Our identification strategy exploits discontinuities in distances to vote generated by voting district boundaries in South Africa. This allows us to proxy the cost of voting with distance to the polling station and estimate the causal effect of the cost of voting on parties’ use of vote buying. The results have important implications for core assumptions concerning parties’ targeting strategies and for how electoral institutions shape the linkage strategies parties use to mobilize political support.

U2 - 10.1086/722047

DO - 10.1086/722047

M3 - Journal article

VL - 85

SP - 593

EP - 608

JO - Journal of Politics

JF - Journal of Politics

SN - 0022-3816

IS - 2

ER -

ID: 269510431