Explaining voter turnout rates in new democracies: Guatemala
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Fabrice Lehoucq, Associate Professor (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Abstract: This paper uses several ols models to evaluate the impact of sociological, institutional, and spatial approaches to turnout across the 330 municipalities of Guatemala. It shows that economic development and geographic location (urban vs. rural) have little discernible impact on turnout. Turnout, however, varies positively with the share of registered voters who are female, even if fewer women are registered to vote and, as a result, actually cast ballots. As turnout has fallen through time, the share of registered voters who are literate and the share of the population that is indigenous have become negatively associated with turnout. Larger number of citizens turn out to vote as municipal size decreases and as the ratio of registered voters to voting stations falls. That these factors are significant suggests that, even in a research design that privileges socioeconomic variation, spatial–institutional differences help explain voter turnout rates.
Explaining voter turnout rates in new democracies: Guatemala
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Created on 9/30/2011
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Electoral Studies
- Language: English
- Date: 2004
- Keywords
- Voter turnout, Political participation, Democratization, Guatemala