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Does political knowledge increase turnout? Evidence from the 1997 British general election

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Abstract

A number of recent formal models predict a positive effect of political knowledge on turnout. Both information acquisition and turnout, however, are likely to be determined by a similar set of variables, rendering hard the identification of a causal link in empirical investigations. Available empirical regularities should therefore be interpreted as mere correlations. I address this problem by using an intrumental variables approach, where the instruments are represented by various proxies of information supply on mass media. Using survey data from the 1997 British General Election Study, I show that political knowledge has a sizeable influence on the probability of voting and that mass media play an important role in influencing political participation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Government and STICERD, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom

    Valentino Larcinese

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  1. Valentino Larcinese
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Correspondence to Valentino Larcinese.

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JEL Classifications: D72, D83

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Larcinese, V. Does political knowledge increase turnout? Evidence from the 1997 British general election. Public Choice 131, 387–411 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-006-9122-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-006-9122-0

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