TY - JOUR
T1 - Disenchanted or discerning
T2 - Voter turnout in post-communist countries
AU - Pacek, Alexander C.
AU - Pop-Eleches, Grigore
AU - Tucker, Joshua A.
PY - 2009/4
Y1 - 2009/4
N2 - Voter turnout in post-communist countries has exhibited wildly fluctuating patterns against a backdrop of economic and political volatility. In this article, we consider three explanations for this variation: a depressing disenchantment hypothesis that predicts voters are less likely to vote in elections when political and economic conditions are worse; a motivating disenchantment hypothesis that predicts voters are more likely to vote in elections when conditions are worse; and a stakes based hypothesis that predicts voters are more likely to vote in more important elections. Using an original aggregate-level cross-national time-series data set of 137 presidential and parliamentary elections in 19 post-communist countries, we find much stronger empirical support for the stakes-based approach to explaining variation in voter turnout than we do for either of the disenchantment-based approaches. Our findings offer a theoretically integrated picture of voter participation in the post-communist world, and, more broadly, contribute new insights to the general literature on turnout.
AB - Voter turnout in post-communist countries has exhibited wildly fluctuating patterns against a backdrop of economic and political volatility. In this article, we consider three explanations for this variation: a depressing disenchantment hypothesis that predicts voters are less likely to vote in elections when political and economic conditions are worse; a motivating disenchantment hypothesis that predicts voters are more likely to vote in elections when conditions are worse; and a stakes based hypothesis that predicts voters are more likely to vote in more important elections. Using an original aggregate-level cross-national time-series data set of 137 presidential and parliamentary elections in 19 post-communist countries, we find much stronger empirical support for the stakes-based approach to explaining variation in voter turnout than we do for either of the disenchantment-based approaches. Our findings offer a theoretically integrated picture of voter participation in the post-communist world, and, more broadly, contribute new insights to the general literature on turnout.
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U2 - 10.1017/S0022381609090409
DO - 10.1017/S0022381609090409
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:67749118412
SN - 0022-3816
VL - 71
SP - 473
EP - 491
JO - Journal of Politics
JF - Journal of Politics
IS - 2
ER -