Electoral registration in Britain: inequality, reform and the prospects for automatic registration

英国的选举登记：不平等、改革和自动登记的前景

• 批准号: 2071950
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Manchester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2018 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2071950
• 关键词: Electoral; registration; Britain; inequality; reform

Lower levels of electoral registration among certain social groups is under-studied, but patterns of under-registration concentrate among certain already disadvantaged and alienated groups. The recent changes to electoral registration rules has led to concerns that some groups may have been impacted negatively. Government consultation on the impact on under-registered groups such as the young, those in privately rented accommodation and BAME groups, has concluded that these may be at risk under the new individual registration (IER) system. However, the reforms may have dealt with some causes of marginality. For example, people in multi-occupier households may not have - under the previous system - received registration forms addressed to 'the present occupier'. Now, under the IER rules they would be individually prompted, and the reach may in fact be improved. The UK format of voluntary registration seems outdated. Most of European countries employ automatic voter registration and some form of this has been recommended by the Electoral Commission. Other countries might offer lessons from their different procedures that shed light on the relationship with inequalities and attitudes of trust. Objectives 1) Assess the impact of the new registration system on vulnerable social groups, using the Electoral Registers. 2) Assess the relationship between registration rules and social inequalities and political trust and other relevant attitudes in the UK. 3) Extend this to an international comparison, drawing lessons for the recommended move to automatic voter registration. Academic impact The literature on registration is sparse; the last 2 books resulting from the British Election Study do not mention registration (Clarke et al 2004; Whiteley et al 2013). In the US, most literature focuses on the influence of registration rules on voter turnout; and the literature evaluating registration drives among certain under-registered populations. While international reports on registration have been published, these are non-academic publications with purely descriptive value. As a result, the proposed study will be in many ways the first of its kind and thus an important original contribution to the literature. It is also likely to have a substantial non-academic impact as it fits squarely within one of the main areas of work by The Electoral Commission and is thus likely to be used by them extensively. Methods and data 1. Aggregate level analysis of registration levels and turnout pre and post reform: Comparison of the historical and current Electoral Registers to observe the impact of the change in registration rules. We will sample areas with high ethnic minority concentration, high multiple deprivation and with a highly transient/young population, as well as control areas. We will also use the available information on age, name and postcode. We will include the Local Authorities named by Electoral Commission as having particularly large drops in registration following the reform (such as Greater Manchester). 2. Longitudinal analysis of the relationship between registration and political trust and other democratic attitudes2 long running ESRC datasets (British Election Study and Understanding Society) will be used to understand the relationship between attitudes and registration, and alienation and wider demographics.3. Internationally comparative study on the relationship between registration rules, inequality and democratic attitudes One or more internationally comparable datasets will be used to understand the relationship between attitudes, social inequality and registration internationally. We envisage that this will lead to an examination of the benefits (if any) of automatic electoral registration.

对某些社会群体中较低水平的选民登记的研究不足，但登记不足的模式集中在某些已经处于不利地位和被疏远的群体中。最近对选举登记规则的修改引起了人们的担忧，即一些群体可能受到了负面影响。政府咨询了注册人数不足的群体，如年轻人、私人租房和BAME群体的影响，得出结论认为，在新的个人注册(IER)制度下，这些群体可能面临风险。然而，改革可能解决了一些边缘化的原因。例如，在以前的制度下，多住户家庭的人可能没有收到写给“现住户”的登记表。现在，根据IER规则，他们将得到单独的提示，而且覆盖范围实际上可能会得到改善。英国的自愿注册模式似乎已经过时了。大多数欧洲国家使用自动选民登记，选举委员会已经推荐了某种形式的登记。其他国家可以从不同的程序中吸取教训，阐明与不平等和信任态度之间的关系。目标1)利用选民登记册评估新登记制度对弱势社会群体的影响。2)评估注册规则与英国社会不平等、政治信任和其他相关态度之间的关系。3)将这一点扩展到国际比较，为建议转向自动选民登记吸取教训。学术影响关于登记的文献很少；英国选举研究得出的最后两本书没有提到登记(Clarke等人，2004年；Whiteley等人，2013年)。在美国，大多数文献关注登记规则对选民投票率的影响；以及评估某些登记不足人口的登记活动的文献。虽然已经发表了关于注册的国际报告，但这些都是纯粹具有描述性价值的非学术出版物。因此，拟议的研究在许多方面都将是此类研究的第一次，因此是对该文献的重要原创贡献。它还可能产生重大的非学术影响，因为它正好符合选举委员会的主要工作领域之一，因此很可能被它们广泛使用。方法和数据1.改革前后登记水平和投票率的总体水平分析：比较历史和当前的选民登记册，以观察登记规则变化的影响。我们将在少数民族聚集度高、多重剥夺程度高和流动人口/年轻人口高的地区以及控制区进行抽样。我们还将使用现有的年龄、姓名和邮政编码信息。我们将把被选举委员会点名为在改革后登记人数下降特别大的地方当局(如大曼彻斯特)包括在内。2.纵向分析登记与政治信任和其他民主态度之间的关系2将使用长期运行的ESRC数据集(英国选举研究和理解协会)来理解态度和登记之间的关系，以及疏远和更广泛的人口统计之间的关系。登记规则、不平等和民主态度之间关系的国际比较研究将使用一个或多个国际可比较的数据集，以了解态度、社会不平等和国际登记之间的关系。我们预计，这将导致对自动选民登记的好处(如果有的话)进行审查。