Skip to main content

On expressive voting: Evidence from the 1988 U.S. presidential election

Public Choice volume 108, pages 295–312 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

People turn out to cast their votes simply because they want to ``cheer'' or ``boo'' their favored or unfavored candidates. This expressive voting behavior is in marked contrast to the instrumental voting behavior, i.e., people vote because they perceive voting as a means of achieving a particular election outcome. In this paper we report an econometric study on voting behavior that uses data from the 1988 American National Election Study. The results reveal that the ``cheering'' and ``booing'' effects are statistically significant, and that they exert substantial influence on bothturnout and voter choice. We also obtain evidence against theproposition that people turn out to vote because they considerthemselves to be potentially decisive with regard to the electionoutcome.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price includes VAT (Canada)

References

  • Aldrich, J.H. (1993). Rational choice and turnout. American Journal of Political Science 37: 246-78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, S.P. and De Palma, A. (1992). Multiproduct firms: A nested logit approach. Journal of Industrial Economics 40: 261-276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, S.P., de Palma, A. and Thisse, J.-F. (1992). Discrete choice theory of product differentiation. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashenfelter, O. and Jr. Kelly, S. (1975). Determinants of participation in presidential elections. Journal of Law and Economics 18: 695-733.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brennan, G. and Buchanan, J. (1984). Voter choice: Evaluating political alternatives. American Behavioral Scientist 28: 185-201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brennan, G. and Hamlin, A. (1998). Expressive voting and electoral equilibrium. Public Choice 95: 149-175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brennan, G. and Lomasky, L.E. (1993). Democracy and decision. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter, J.R. and Guerette, S.D. (1992). An experimental study of expressive voting. Public Choice 73: 251-260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conover, P.J. and Feldman, S. (1986). Emotional reactions to the economy: I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore. American Journal of Political Science 30: 50-78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, G.W. (1988). Closeness and turnout: A methodological note. Journal of Politics 50: 768-775.

    Google Scholar 

  • Downs, A. (1957). An Economic theory of democracy. New York: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Efron, B. and Tibshirani, R. (1993). An introduction to the bootstrap. Chapman and Hall.

  • Faith, R.L. and Tollison, R.D. (1990). Expressive and economic voting. In W.M. Crain and R.D. Tollison (Eds.), Predicting politics. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, A.J. (1996). A further experimental study of expressive voting. Public Choice 88: 171-184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glazer, A. and Grofman, B. (1992). A positive correlation between turnout and plurality does not refute the rational voter model. Quality and Quantity 26: 85-93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcus, G. (1988). The structure of emotional response: 1984 presidential candidates. American Political Science Review 82: 735-761.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsusaka, J.G. and Palda, F. (1993). The Downsian voter meets the ecological fallacy. Public Choice 77: 855-879.

    Google Scholar 

  • McFadden, D. (1978). Modelling the choice of residential location. In A. Karlvist, L. Lundqvist, F. Snickars, and J. Weibull (Eds.), Spatial interaction theory and planning models. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • McFadden, D. (1981). Econometric models of probabilistic choice. In C.F. Manski and D. McFadden (Eds.), Structural analysis of discrete data with econometric applications. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McFadden, D. (1984). Econometric analysis of qualitative response models. In Z. Griliches and M. Intriligator (Eds.), Handbook of Econometrics, Vol. 2. Amsterdam: North Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poole, K. and Rosenthal, H. (1991). Patterns of congressional voting. American Journal of Political Science 35: 228-278.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poole, K. and Rosenthal, H. (1997). A political economic history of roll call voting. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riker, W.H. and Ordeshook, P.C. (1968). A theory of the calculus of voting. American Political Science Review 62: 25-43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tullock, G. (1971). The charity of the uncharitable. Economic Inquiry 9: 379-392.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei, Taiwan

    Kamhon Kan & C.C. Yang

Authors
  1. Kamhon Kan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C.C. Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kan, K., Yang, C. On expressive voting: Evidence from the 1988 U.S. presidential election. Public Choice 108, 295–312 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017556626815

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017556626815

Keywords

  • Public Finance
  • Presidential Election
  • Marked Contrast
  • Substantial Influence
  • Vote Behavior