Voter Turnout and Abstention in Context: A Multi-level Analysis of the Factors Affecting Voter Turnout and Abstention in Systems of Multi-Level Governance

[该提案是EuroCORES HumVIB竞赛资助的CRP的一部分。选举机构能否克服社会排斥和贫穷的政治后果？政党在将工人阶级纳入欧洲民主国家的选民中发挥了什么作用？还有，为什么如此多的美国人，尤其是工薪阶层和下层中产阶级，仍然被排斥在他们国家选举过程的参与之外？本研究的前提是，这些问题反映了对同一政治现象的不同观点：选举竞争的背景，特别是立法选举的规则及其与地理分配收入的相互作用，决定了政治行动者动员和吸收低收入和工薪阶层公民的动机。拟议的研究有助于EuroCORES HumVIB竞赛推荐的合作研究提案。早期关于再分配政策关系的描述强调了多成员选区（MMD）选举规则和单成员选区（SMD）规则之间的明显区别（例如，Iversen & Soskice 2006, Persson & Tabellini 2000）。然而，这些说法忽略了选举背景- -具体地说，不同类型公民的地理分布- -对选举规则在构成立法者决策激励方面的影响的重要修正作用。因此，这项建议在思想上的优点在于认识到，鉴于举行选举的国家背景- -特别是收入的地理分布- -当代民主国家的选举机构可能破坏这些社会实现其民主理想的机会。作为欧洲科学基金会合作研究计划（EUROCORES）的一部分，拟议的研究将有助于一个广泛合作和高度整合的项目，该项目的动机是有关选民投票率的问题。拟议的研究将有助于这个较大项目的理论发展和数据收集工作。

[This proposal is part of a funded CRP from the EuroCORES HumVIB competition.]Can electoral institutions overcome the political consequences of social exclusion and poverty? What role did political parties play in incorporating the working classes into the electorates of European democracies? And, why are so many Americans, particularly the working and lower middle people, still alienated from participation in their countrys electoral processes? This research begins with the premise that these questions reflect different perspectives on the same political phenomenon: The context of electoral competition especially the rules governing legislative elections and their interactions with the geographic distribution income shapes the incentives of political actors to mobilize and incorporate low-income and working-class citizens. The proposed research contributes to a recommended Collaborative Research Proposal from the EuroCORES HumVIB competition. Earlier accounts of the relationship redistributive policy emphasize a stark division between multimember district (MMD) electoral rules and single-member district (SMD) rules (e.g., Iversen & Soskice 2006, Persson & Tabellini 2000). These accounts, however, miss the important modifying effect of electoral context - specifically, the geographic distribution of citizens of different types - on the effect of electoral rules in structuring legislators' policy-making incentives. The intellectual merits of this proposal lie, therefore, in the recognition that given the national context in which elections are held - in particular, the geographic distribution of income - the electoral institutions of contemporary democracies may undermine the opportunities for those societies to achieve their democratic ideals.As part of a European Science Foundation Collaborative Research Scheme (EUROCORES), the proposed research will contribute to a broadly collaborative and highly integrated project that is motivated by questions about voter turnout. The proposed research will contribute to the theoretical development and data collection exercises of this larger project.