The Motivation to Vote
Explaining Electoral Participation
Published on 1. February 2020
Book
Hardback
156 pages
978-0-7748-6267-7 (ISBN)
Description
Elections are at the heart of our democracy. Understanding citizens' decisions to vote or to abstain in elections is crucial, especially when turnout in so many democracies is declining.
In The Motivation to Vote, Andre Blais and Jean-Francois Daoust provide an original and elegant model that explains why people vote. They argue that the decision to vote or abstain hinges on four factors: political interest, sense of civic duty, perceived importance of the election, and ease of voting. Their findings are strongly supported by empirical evidence from elections in five countries.
The authors also test alternative explanations of voter turnout by looking at contextual factors and the role of habit, but find little evidence to support these hypotheses. This analysis is compelling and further demonstrates the power of their model to provide a provocative and parsimonious explanation of voter turnout in elections.
In The Motivation to Vote, Andre Blais and Jean-Francois Daoust provide an original and elegant model that explains why people vote. They argue that the decision to vote or abstain hinges on four factors: political interest, sense of civic duty, perceived importance of the election, and ease of voting. Their findings are strongly supported by empirical evidence from elections in five countries.
The authors also test alternative explanations of voter turnout by looking at contextual factors and the role of habit, but find little evidence to support these hypotheses. This analysis is compelling and further demonstrates the power of their model to provide a provocative and parsimonious explanation of voter turnout in elections.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Vancouver
Canada
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Illustrations
14 charts, 20 tables
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
360 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7748-6267-7 (9780774862677)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Andre Blais is one of the world's leading experts on voting behaviour and electoral systems. He is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the Universite de Montreal where he holds the Research Chair in Electoral Studies. He is an elected fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a research fellow with the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship (CSDC), former president of the Canadian Political Science Association, and past chair of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES).
Professor Blais was the principal co-investigator of a Collaborative Research Initiative project (Making Electoral Democracy Work) with economists, political scientists, and psychologists from Canada, Europe, and the United States on the impact of electoral systems on the behaviour of voters and political parties. He was also a co-investigator of the Canadian Election Study from 1988 to 1993 and the principal investigator from 1997 to 2006. He has published twenty-two books, eight edited volumes, more than two hundred journal articles, and more than one hundred chapters in edited volumes.
Jean-Francois Daoust studies political behaviour and public opinion. He is a lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Edinburgh. Previously, he was a SSHRC postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship at McGill University (2018-20) and a visiting scholar at Harvard University (Winter 2018).
Professor Daoust combines a comparative approach with a specialization in Canadian politics. He has published many articles, appearing in journals such as the Journal of Politics, Party Politics, West European Politics, Electoral Studies, Representation, Government and Opposition, the Canadian Journal of Political Science, and Perspectives on Politics.
Professor Blais was the principal co-investigator of a Collaborative Research Initiative project (Making Electoral Democracy Work) with economists, political scientists, and psychologists from Canada, Europe, and the United States on the impact of electoral systems on the behaviour of voters and political parties. He was also a co-investigator of the Canadian Election Study from 1988 to 1993 and the principal investigator from 1997 to 2006. He has published twenty-two books, eight edited volumes, more than two hundred journal articles, and more than one hundred chapters in edited volumes.
Jean-Francois Daoust studies political behaviour and public opinion. He is a lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Edinburgh. Previously, he was a SSHRC postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship at McGill University (2018-20) and a visiting scholar at Harvard University (Winter 2018).
Professor Daoust combines a comparative approach with a specialization in Canadian politics. He has published many articles, appearing in journals such as the Journal of Politics, Party Politics, West European Politics, Electoral Studies, Representation, Government and Opposition, the Canadian Journal of Political Science, and Perspectives on Politics.
Content
1 The Decision to Vote or Not to Vote
2 Who Votes?
3 Do I Like Politics?
4 Do I Have a Duty to Vote?
5 Do I Care about the Outcome?
6 Is It Easy to Vote?
7 Is Voting a Habit?
8 Does It All Depend on the Context?
9 Conclusion
Appendices; Notes; References; Index
2 Who Votes?
3 Do I Like Politics?
4 Do I Have a Duty to Vote?
5 Do I Care about the Outcome?
6 Is It Easy to Vote?
7 Is Voting a Habit?
8 Does It All Depend on the Context?
9 Conclusion
Appendices; Notes; References; Index