CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2015
| Author | Makhnatch, Yana |
|---|---|
| Title | Decreasing The Costs of Voting: Testing The Effects in Canadian General Elections |
| Summary | Previous research on the determinants of voter turnout has mainly focused on institutional factors such as the electoral system; socio-economic factors such as development; and election specific factors such as the closeness of the election. The impact of factors that election administrators can actually change, such as the number of polling stations, has rarely been discussed before. Using data collected by the Canadian federal election administration agency, Elections Canada, for the 38th and 39th general election, this study consists of analyzing various factors that can increase the benefits of voting and decrease the costs (time and energy) of voting. Canada is treated as a case study here to test the impact of various factors that could be expected to influence the rate of voter turnout worldwide. The thesis presents bi-variate and multivariate regression models accounting for variation observed across 308 single-member districts. Controlling for the size of the electorate, the incumbents’ party, the number of candidates, the competitiveness of the race and relevant aspects of campaign finances, the thesis concludes that the number of polling stations had no significant impact on voter turnout in the 38th and 39th Canadian General Elections. Instead, electoral competitiveness and total candidate campaign expenditure had a significant impact on voter turnout, suggesting to consider other avenues to increase turnout in elections than further reducing the costs’ of voter participation. |
| Supervisor | Gabor, Toka |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2015/makhnatch_yana.pdf |
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