Abstract
Weisberg and Grofman (1981) propose a rational choice model of voter turnout which they test with data from the 1976 Presidential election. We extend and generalize that model to cover a wide variety of forms of electoral participation including working on a campaign, wearing campaign buttons, and talking to others about the campaign. We find that voters who see a difference between the candidates, with one candidate positively evaluated and the other negatively, are roughly twice as likely to participate in high involvement electoral activities as are those who are alienated from or indifferent to the candidates.
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We are indebted to Deanna Knickerbocker, Matt Fenner and the staff of the Word Processing Center, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, for manuscript preparation and to the Computer Center at California State University and ICPSR for data archives resources and computer services. The paper was begun while the second-named author was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.
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Norrander, B., Grofman, B. A rational choice model of citizen participation in high and low commitment electoral activities. Public Choice 57, 187–192 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00052406
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00052406
Keywords
- Electoral Activity
- Public Finance
- Choice Model
- Rational Choice
- Presidential Election