Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T01:31:31.913Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

State Electoral Institutions and Voter Turnout In Presidential Elections, 1920–2000

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Melanie J. Springer
Melanie J. Springer*
Affiliation:
Washington University in Saint Louis, MO, USA
*
Melanie J. Springer, Department of Political Science, Washington University in Saint Louis, Campus Box 1063, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63130-4899, USA Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Expansive and restrictive state electoral institutions have been instrumental in structuring the vote throughout American history. Studies focused on a small number of reforms, years, or states lack the scope necessary to comprehensively evaluate the effects of institutional change over time. This work, however, places recent reforms in historical context and offers a long-term perspective. Using an original data set, it identifies the institutions that have generated the most substantial effects on state turnout rates during presidential elections from 1920 to 2000. Findings demonstrate that restrictive laws (those aiming to limit the vote or make voting more costly) produced large and consistently negative effects in the Southern and non-Southern states alike, but the effects associated with expansive reforms (those making participation more convenient or less costly) vary. Although a few expansive laws have increased turnout in the non-Southern states, they have had no effect in the Southern states where turnout rates are lowest.

Keywords

American political developmentelection rulespolitical behaviorpolitical participationSouthern politics
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 12 , Issue 3 , September 2012 , pp. 252 - 283
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achen, Christopher. 1986. The Statistical Analysis of Quasi-Experiments. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Althaus, Scott, and Trautman, Todd. 2008. “The Impact of Television Market Size on Voter Turnout in American Elections.” American Politics Research 36:824–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ansolabehere, Stephen, and Konisky, David M.. 2006. “The Introduction of Voter Registration and its Effect on Turnout.” Political Analysis 14:83–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, Nathaniel, and Katz, Jonathan. 1995. “What To Do (and Not To Do) With Time-Series Cross Section Data in Comparative Politics.” American Political Science Review 89:634–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, Nathaniel, and Katz, Jonathan. 1996. “Nuisance vs. Substance: Specifying and Estimating Time-Series-Cross-Section Models.” Political Analysis 6:1–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berinsky, Adam. 2005. “The Perverse Consequences of Electoral Reform in the United States.” American Politics Research 33:471–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berinsky, Adam, Burns, Nancy, and Traugott, Michael. 2001. “Who Votes by Mail? A Dynamic Model of the Individual-Level Consequences of Vote-by-Mail Systems.” Public Opinion Quarterly 65 (2): 178–97..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolinger, Bruce C., and Gaylord, Edward H.. 1977. California: Special Articles on California Electoral Laws. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Boyd, Richard. 1986. “Election Calendars and Voter Turnout.” American Politics Quarterly 14:89–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyd, Richard. 1989. “The Effects of Primaries and Statewide Races on Voter Turnout.” Journal of Politics 51:730–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brians, Craig, and Grofman, Bernard. 2001. “Election Day Registration's Effect on U.S. Voter Turnout.” Social Science Quarterly 82:170–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, Robert, and Wedeking, Justin. 2006. “People Who Have Their Tickets but Do Not Use Them.” American Politics Research 34 (4): 479–504..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burden, Barry, and Neiheisel, Jacob. 2010. “Election Administration and the Pure Effect of Voter Registration on Turnout.” Political Research Quarterly (forthcoming).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burnham, Walter Dean. 1970. Critical Elections and the Mainsprings of American Politics. New York, NY: Norton.Google Scholar
Caldeira, Gregory, and Patterson, Samuel. 1985. “Mailing in the Vote: Correlates and Consequences of Absentee Voting.” American Journal of Political Science 29:766–88.Google Scholar
Campbell, Angus, Converse, Philip, Miller, Warren, and Stokes, Donald. 1960. The American Voter. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Campbell, David E. 2000. “Social Capital and Service Learning.” PS: Political Science and Politics. 33: 641–645.Google Scholar
Crocker, Royce. 1996. Voter Registration and Turnout: 1948–1998. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service.Google Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Erikson, Robert S. 1981. “Why Do People Vote? Because They Are Registered.” American Politics Quarterly 9:259–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ewald, Alec C. 2009. The Way We Vote. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzgerald, Mary. 2005. “Greater Convenience but not Greater Turnout.” American Politics Research 33:842–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franklin, Daniel, and Grier, Eric. 1997. “Effects of Motor Voter Legislation: Voter Turnout, Registration, and Partisan Advantage in the 1992 Presidential Election.” American Politics Quarterly 25:104–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gans, Curtis B. 1987. Creating the Opportunity: How Voting Laws Affect Voter Turnout. Washington, DC: Committee for the Study of the American Electorate.Google Scholar
Gomez, Brad, Hansford, Thomas, and Krause, George. 2007. “The Republicans Should Pray for Rain: Weather, Turnout, and Voting in U.S. Presidential Elections.” Journal of Politics 69:649–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gronke, Paul, Galanes-Rosenbaum, Eva, and Miller, Peter. 2007. “Early Voting and Turnout.” PS: Political Science and Politics 40 (4): 639–45..Google Scholar
Gronke, Paul, Galanes-Rosenbaum, Eva, Miller, Peter, and Toffey, Daniel. 2008. “Convenience Voting.” Annual Review of Political Science 11:437–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanmer, Michael. 2009. Discount Voting: Voter Registration Reforms and Their Effects. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hero, Rodney. 2007. Racial Diversity and Social Capital: Equality and Community in America. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Highton, Benjamin. 1997. “Easy Registration and Voter Turnout.” Journal of Politics 59:565–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Highton, Benjamin. 2004. “Registration and Voting in the United States.” Perspectives on Politics 2:507–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Highton, Benjamin, and Wolfinger, Raymond. 1998. “Estimating the Effects of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.” Political Behavior 20:79–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, Kim Quaile, and Leighley, Jan. 1992 “The Policy Consequences of Class Bias in State Electorates.” American Journal of Political Science 36 (2): 351–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keyssar, Alexander. 2000. The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Key, V. O. 1949. Southern Politics in State and Nation. New York: Vintage Books.Google Scholar
Kim, J. O., Petrocik, J. R., and Enokson, S. N.. 1975. “Voter Turnout among the American States: Systemic and Individual Components.” American Political Science Review 69:107–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kleppner, Paul. 1982. Who Voted? The Dynamics of Electoral Turnout, 1870–1980. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Knack, Stephen. 1995. “Does Motor Voter Work? Evidence From State-Level Data.” The Journal of Politics 57:796–811.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kousser, Morgan. 1999. Colorblind Injustice: Minority Voting Rights and the Undoing of the Second Reconstruction. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Lawson, Steven F. 1976. Black Ballots: Voting Rights in the South, 1944–1969. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Lawson, Steven F. 1985. In Pursuit of Power: Southern Blacks and Electoral Politics, 1965–1982. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Leighley, Jan E. 1995. “Attitudes, Opportunities, and Incentives: A Field Essay on Political Participation.” Political Research Quarterly 48 (March):181–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leighley, Jan E. 2001. Strength in Numbers? The Political Mobilization of Racial and Ethnic Minorities. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Manza, Jeff, and Uggen, Christopher. 2006. Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martinez, Michael, and Hill, D.. 1999. “Did Motor Voter Work?” American Politics Quarterly 27:296–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDonald, Michael. 2002. “The Turnout Rate Among Eligible Voters in the States, 1980–2000.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 2:199–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDonald, Michael, and Popkin, Samuel. 2001. “The Myth of the Vanishing Voter.” American Political Science Review 95:963–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miles, Thomas. 2004. “Felon Disenfranchisement and Voter Turnout.” Journal of Legal Studies 33:85–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, Glenn, and Wlezien, Christopher. 1995. “The Impact of Legal Constraints on Voter Registration, Turnout, and the Composition of the American Electorate.” Political Behavior 17:179–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliver, Eric. 1996. “The Effects of Eligibility Restrictions and Party Activity on Absentee Voting and Overall Turnout.” American Journal of Political Science 40:498–513.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, Samuel, and Caldeira, Gregory. 1983. “Getting out the Vote: Participation in Gubernatorial Elections.” American Political Science Review 77:675–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, Thomas E. 2002. The Vanishing Voter: Public Involvement in an Age of Uncertainty. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Distributed by Random House.Google Scholar
Piven, Frances Fox, and Cloward, Richard A.. 1988. Why Americans Don't Vote. New York: Pantheon Books.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert D. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Rhine, Staci L. 1995. “Registration Reform and Turnout Change in the American States.” American Politics Quarterly 23:409–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richardson, Lilliard E., and Neeley, Grant W.. 1996. “The Impact of Early Voting on Turnout: The 1994 Elections in Tennessee.” State and Local Government Review 28:173–9.Google Scholar
Riker, William, and Ordeshook, Peter. 1968. “A Theory of the Calculus of Voting.” American Political Science Review 62:25–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenstone, Steven J., and Hansen, John Mark. 1993. Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Rusk, Jerrold. 1974. “Comment: The American Electoral Universe: Speculation and Evidence.” American Political Science Review 68:1028–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rusk, Jerrold, and Stucker, John J.. 1978. “The Effect of the Southern System of Election Laws on Voting Participation.” In The History of American Electoral Behavior, eds. Silbey, Joel H., Bogue, Allan G., and Flanigan, William H.. NJ: Princeton University Press, 198–250.Google Scholar
Shachar, R., and Nalebuff, B.. 1999. “Follow the Leader: Theory and Evidence on Political Participation.” American Economic Review 89:525–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Daniel, and Tolbert, Caroline. 2007. “The Instrumental and Educative Effects of Ballot Measures: Research on Direct Democracy in the American States.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 7 (4): 416–45..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Mark A. 2001. “The Contingent Effects of Ballot Initiatives and Candidate Races on Turnout.” American Journal of Political Science 45:700–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stein, Robert. 1998. “Introduction: Early Voting.” Public Opinion Quarterly 62:57–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stein, Robert, and Garcia-Monet, Patricia A.. 1997. “Voting Early, but not Often.” Social Science Quarterly 78:657–71.Google Scholar
Stimson, James A. 1985. “Regression in Space and Time: A Statistical Essay.” American Journal of Political Science 9:914–47.Google Scholar
Teixeira, Ruy A. 1992. The Disappearing American Voter. Washington DC: Brooking Institute.Google Scholar
Timpone, Richard J. 1998. “Structure, Behavior, and Voter Turnout in the United States.” American Political Science Review 92:145–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tolbert, Caroline, and Smith, Daniel. 2005. “The Educative Effects of Ballot Initiatives on Voter Turnout.” American Political Research 33:283–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tolbert, Caroline, and Smith, Daniel. 2006. “Representation and Direct Democracy in the United States.” Representation: Journal of Representative Democracy 42:25–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tolbert, Caroline, Donovan, Todd, King, Bridgett, and Bowler, Shaun. 2008. “Election Day Registration, Competition, and Voter Turnout.” In Democracy in the States: Experiments in Election Reform, eds. Bruce, , Cain, Todd Donovan, and Tolbert, Caroline. Washington DC: Brookings Press, 83–98.Google Scholar
Traugott, Michael W. 2004. “Why Electoral Reform Has Failed: If You Build It, Will They Come?” In Rethinking the Vote: The Politics and Prospects of American Electoral Reform, eds. Crigler, Ann N., Just, Marion R., and McCaffery, Edward J.. New York: Oxford University Press, 167–184.Google Scholar
Verba, Sidney, and Nie, Norman H.. 1972. Participation in America: Political democracy and Social equality. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Whitby, Kenny J. 2007. “The Effect of Black Descriptive Representation on Black Electoral Turnout in the 2004 Elections.” Social Science Quarterly 88 (4):1010–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfinger, Raymond E., Highton, Benjamin, and Mullin, Megan. 2005. “How Postregistration Laws Affect the Turnout of Citizens Registered to Vote.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 5:1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfinger, Raymond E., and Rosenstone, Steven J.. 1980. Who Votes? New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar