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Why Bother? Supporters of Locally Weaker Parties Are Less Likely to Vote or to Vote Sincerely

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2021

Fred Cutler Open the ORCID record for Fred Cutler [Opens in a new window] ,
Alexandre Rivard  and
Antony Hodgson Open the ORCID record for Antony Hodgson [Opens in a new window]
Fred Cutler*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia, 1866 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
Alexandre Rivard
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia, 1866 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
Antony Hodgson
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia, 2054-6250 Applied Science Lane, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

Voters are deterred from casting a vote and more likely to vote strategically if their preferred choice is less competitive in their electoral district. We use 2019 Canadian Election Study data to show that respondents’ answers to a “how likely are you to vote” question depend on their estimate of their preferred party's local chances of winning, relative to other parties. This deterrent effect on turnout from the competitiveness of a voter's preferred party is concentrated among certain parties (NDP, Green, People's Party of Canada). Under first-past-the-post (FPTP), voters with particular policy perspectives are systematically deterred from voting, relative to other voters. Furthermore, we find that despite supporters of all parties having an incentive to vote strategically if their party is outside the top two in the district, strategic voting is heavily concentrated among voters who prefer parties other than the nationally most competitive two parties.

Résumé

Résumé

Les électeurs sont dissuadés de voter et sont plus susceptibles de voter stratégiquement si leur choix préféré est moins compétitif dans leur circonscription électorale. Nous utilisons les données de l'Étude sur l'élection canadienne 2019 pour montrer que les réponses à la question « Dans quelle mesure êtes-vous susceptible de voter » dépendent de leur estimation des chances locales de victoire de leur parti préféré, par rapport aux autres partis. Cet effet dissuasif de la compétitivité du parti préféré de l'électeur sur le taux de participation est concentré dans certains partis (NPD, Verts, Parti populaire du Canada). Dans le cadre du système majoritaire uninominal à un tour (SMUT), les électeurs ayant des points de vue politiques particuliers sont systématiquement dissuadés de voter, par rapport aux autres électeurs. De plus, nous constatons que, même si les partisans de tous les partis sont incités à voter stratégiquement si leur parti n'est pas parmi les deux premiers dans la circonscription, le vote stratégique est fortement concentré parmi les électeurs qui préfèrent des partis autres que les deux partis les plus compétitifs au niveau national.

Keywords

electoral systemselectionsvoting behaviourturnoutsystèmes électorauxélectionscomportement de votetaux de participation
Type
Research Note/Note de recherche
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , March 2022 , pp. 208 - 225
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Canadian Political Science Association (l’Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique

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