EXPLAINING TURNOUT DECLINE IN POST-COMMUNIST COUNTRIES: THE IMPACT OF MIGRATION
EXPLAINING TURNOUT DECLINE IN POST-COMMUNIST COUNTRIES: THE IMPACT OF MIGRATION
Author(s): Mircea ComșaSubject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai
Keywords: voter turnout; turnout decline; migration; post-communist countries.
Summary/Abstract: Turnout decline in former communist countries has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention. In this paper, I re-test some of the previous hypotheses on new data and I propose a new hypothesis that considers the impact of external migration. Using multivariate regression models on a dataset of 272 presidential and parliamentary elections held in 30 post-communist countries between 1989 and 2012, I have found strong support for the “migration hypothesis”: other things being equal, an increase of migration rate by 1 percentage point reduces voter turnout by around 0.4 percentage points. Most of the previous hypotheses related to causes of turnout decline are supported too.
Journal: Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai - Sociologia
- Issue Year: 62/2017
- Issue No: 2
- Page Range: 29-60
- Page Count: 32
- Language: English
