The integrative force of political institutions? Direct democracy and voter turnout across ethnic and nativity groups.

ABSTRACT: Much has been written on the positive effect of direct democracy (initiatives, referendums) on voter turnout. However, we have limited knowledge about potential differential effects on voters belonging to various ethnic groups. The paper argues that depending on a group's responsiveness to the political context, direct democracy can (dis-)integrate voters (from) into the electorate. Empirical analysis of Current Population Survey (CPS) voting supplement survey data, together with data on the absolute use of direct democracy across US states, corroborates this theoretical expectation, however lending more support for the disintegrating assumption. Frequent direct democratic elections further widen the negative voting gap between first-generation Asian voters and voters living in the US for

SUBMITTER: Manatschal A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7900089 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature