Discount Voting
Voter Registration Reforms and their Effects
Published on 17. August 2009
Book
Hardback
264 pages
978-0-521-11265-9 (ISBN)
Description
In the US, there is wide variation from state to state in the institutional arrangements - for example, registration laws - that structure the environment in which citizens decide whether to vote and parties decide whom to mobilize. This has important consequences for who gets elected and the policies they enact. In this book Michael Hanmer argues that to understand how these institutional arrangements affect outcomes, it is necessary to consider the interactions between social and political context and these laws. He tests this theory by examining how the factors that influence the adoption of a set of registration laws affect turnout, the composition of the electorate, and party strategies. His multi-method research design demonstrates that the effect of registration laws is not as profound as either reformers would hope or previous studies suggest, especially when reform is a response to federal legislation. He concludes by arguing for a shift in the approach to increasing turnout.
Reviews / Votes
Review of the hardback: 'There is much to recommend this book. Michael Hanmer has made a significant substantive and methodological contribution to the study of voting systems and electoral reform. Incorporating both substantive and methodological insights, he has carefully crafted a strong argument for considering the endogeneity of electoral reform's impact and how the forces that determine adoption of these reforms influence its impact on voter registration and turnout.' Robert M. Stein, Rice UniversityMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
14 b/w illus. 51 tables
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
587 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-11265-9 (9780521112659)
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
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
08/2012
Cambridge University Press
€49.00
Shipment within 15-20 days
E-Book
11/2009
1st Edition
Cambridge University Press
€38.49
Available for download
E-Book
08/2009
1st Edition
Cambridge University Press
€24.49
Available for download
Person
Michael J. Hanmer joined the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland as an assistant professor in the fall of 2007. He is also a Research Fellow with the University of Maryland's Center for American Politics and Citizenship. Hanmer is a co-author of Voting Technology: The Not-So-Simple Act of Casting a Ballot (2008). He has published articles on electoral reform, voting technology, and the over-reporting of voting in surveys and is listed as an expert in election issues by the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project.
Content
Introduction; 1. Motivation and a new theoretical framework; 2. The purposeful adoption of election day registration; 3. Election day registration by choice and by federal mandate; 4. Motor voter by choice and by federal mandate; 5. Registration and voting in the post NVRA era; 6. Election reform and the composition of the electorate; 7. EDR on the ground and prospects for the future; Appendices.