Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Voting and Not Voting: The Principal Explanations

  • Chapter
The Palgrave Handbook of Global Political Psychology

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Political Psychology Series ((PSPP))

  • 814 Accesses

Abstract

What are the principal explanations for voting or not voting? This is one of the intriguing questions that we address in this chapter. We present the reader with the main theories, summarise the empirical evidence collected so far and discuss the remaining research questions. In many countries, turnout is in decline, although there are clear exceptions from this pattern. Voting, however, is important for democratic legitimacy and an unrepresentative turnout can lead to an unrepresentative group interest representation. Generally, turnout is lowest among the youngest age group, and through generational replacement these newly enfranchised citizens influence overall turnout. In many countries, there have been efforts to increase turnout and reverse a downward trend. An important motivation for research on this topic is the desire to create clarity about the determinants of voting, so that these can be used in future attempts to positively influence voter turnout. The main scientific motivation for this type of research is to test the various theories in order to explain voting behaviour.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achen, C. and Blais, A. (2010) Intention to Vote, Reported Vote, and Validated Vote. Paper prepared for the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC, 1–5 September 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ainley, J., Schulz, W. and Friedman, T. (2013) ICCS 2009 Encyclopedia; Approaches to Civic and Citizenship Education around the World. Amsterdam: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen, I. (1991) ‘The theory of planned behaviour’. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 50(2): 179–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen, I. and Fishbein, M. (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behaviour. Englewood-Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aldrich, J. H., Montgomery, J. M. and Wood, W. (2011) ‘Turnout as a habit’. Political Behavior, 33(4): 535–563.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alford, J. R., Funk, C. L. and Hibbing, J. R. (2005) ‘Are political orientations genetically transmitted?’. American Political Science Review, 99(2): 153–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arceneaux, K. and Nickerson, D. W. (2009) ‘Who is mobilized to vote? A re-analysis of seven randomized field experiments’. The American Journal of Political Science, 53(1): 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blais, A. (2000) To Vote or Not To Vote: The Merits and Limits of Rational Choice Theory. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blais, A. (2006) ‘What affects voter turnout?’. Annual Review of Political Science, 9: 111–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blais, A. and St-Vincent, S. L. (2011) ‘Personality traits, political attitudes and the propensity to vote’. European Journal of Political Research, 50(3): 395–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blais, A., Young, R. and Lapp, M. (2000) ‘The calculus of voting: An empirical test’. European Journal of Political Research, 37(2): 181–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brady, H. E., Verba, S. and Schlozman, K. L. (1995) ‘Beyond SES: A resource model of political participation’. American Political Science Review, 89(2): 271–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, D. and Stokes, D. (1974) Political Change in Britain. London: MacMillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, D. E. (2006) Why We Vote: How Schools and Communities Shape Our Civic Life. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carreras, M. and Castañeda-Angarita, N. (2013) ‘Who votes in Latin America? A test of three theoretical perspectives’. Comparative Political Studies, published online before print 12 June 2013, doi: 10.1177/0010414013488558.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charney, E. and English, W. (2013) ‘Genopolitics and the science of genetics’. American Political Science Review, 107(2): 382–395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Claes, E. (2010) Schools and Citizenship Education; A Comparative Investigation of Socialization Effects of Citizenship Education on Adolescents. Dissertation. Leuven: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Condon, M. and Holleque, M. (2013) ‘Entering politics: General self-efficacy and voting behaviour among young people’. Political Psychology, 34(2): 167–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cutts, D. and Fieldhouse, E. (2009) ‘What small spatial scales are relevant as electoral contexts for individual voters? The importance of the household on turnout at the 2001 general election’. American Journal of Political Science, 53(3): 726–739.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dassonneville, R., Quintelier, E., Hooghe, M. and Claes, E. (2012) ‘The relation between civic education and political attitudes and behaviour: A two-year panel study among Belgian late adolescents’. Applied Developmental Science, 16(3): 140–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dekker, H. and Meijerink, F. (2012) ‘Political cynicism: Conceptualization, operationalization, and explanation’. Politics, Culture and Socialization, 3(1–2): 33–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dekker, H. and Portengen, R. (1995) ‘Explaining Voting Intentions among Dutch Youth’. Politics, Groups and the Individual, 5(2): 81–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dekker, H. and Portengen, R. (2000) ‘European voting intentions of Dutch youth and their explanations’. In: Farnen, R. F., Dekker, H., German, D. B. and Meyenberg, R. eds. Democracies in Transition: Political Culture and Socialization Transformed in West and East. Oldenburg, Germany: BIS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denny, K. and Doyle, O. (2008) ‘Political interest, cognitive ability and personality: Determinants of voter turnout in Britain’. British Journal of Political Science, 38(2): 291–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deppe, K. D., Stoltenberg, S. F., Smith, K. B. and Hibbing, J. R. (2013) ‘Candidate genes and voter turnout: Further evidence on the role of 5-HTTLPR’. American Political Science Review, 107(2): 375–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Downs, A. (1957) An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fieldhouse, E., Tranmer, M. and Russell, A. (2007) ‘Something about young people or something about elections? Electoral participation of young people in Europe: Evidence from a multilevel analysis of the European social survey’. European Journal of Political Research, 46(6): 797–822.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, J. H. and Dawes, C. T. (2008) ‘Two genes predict voter turnout’. Journal of Politics, 70(3): 579–594.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, J. H. and Dawes, C. T. (2013) ‘In defense of genopolitics’. American Political Science Review, 1007(2): 362–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franklin, M. N. (2004) Voter Turnout and the Dynamics of Electoral Competition in Established Democracies since 1945. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Galdi, S., Arcuri, L. and Gawronski, B. (2008) ‘Automatic mental associations predict future choices of undecided decision-makers’. Science, 321: 1100–1102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallego, A. and Oberski, D. (2012) ‘Personality and political participation: The mediation hypothesis’. Political Behavior, 34(3): 425–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerber, A. S. and Green, D. P. (2000) ‘The effects of canvassing, telephone calls, and direct mail on voter turnout: A field experiment’. American Political Science Review, 94(3): 653–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerber, A. S., Green, D. P. and Larimer, C. W. (2008) ‘Social pressure and voter turnout: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment’. American Political Science Review, 102(1): 33–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerber, A. S., Green, D. P. and Shachar, R. (2003) ‘Voting may be habit-forming: Evidence from a randomized field experiment’. American Journal of Political Science, 47(3): 540–550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerber, A. S. and Rogers, T. (2009) ‘Descriptive social norms and motivation to vote: Everybody’s voting and so should you’. The Journal of Politics, 71(1): 178–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geys, B. (2006) ‘Explaining voter turnout: A review of aggregate-level research’. Electoral Studies, 25(4): 637–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, K. M. and Ridout, T. N. (2002) ‘The politics of participation: Mobilization and turnout over time’. Political Behavior, 24(1): 3–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, D. and Shachar, R. (2000) ‘Habit formation and political behaviour; evidence of consuetude in voter turnout’. British Journal of Political Science, 30(4): 561–573.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gruszczynski, M. W., Balzer, A., Jacobs, C. M., Smith, K. B. and Hibbing, J. R. (2013) ‘The physiology of political participation’. Political Behavior, 35(1): 135–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanoch, Y. (2002) ‘“Neither an angel nor an ant”: Emotion as an aid to bounded rationality’. Journal of Economic Psychology, 23(1): 1–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haste, H. (2010) ‘Citizenship Education: A Critical Look at a Contested Field’. In: Sherrod, L. R., Torney-Purta, J. and Flanagan, C. A. eds. Handbook of Research on Civic Engagement in Youth. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatemi, P. K. and McDermott, R. (2012) ‘The political psychology of biology, genetics, and behavior’. Political Psychology, 33(3): 307–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooghe, M. and Claes, E. (2009) ‘Civic education in Europe: Comparative policy perspectives from the Netherlands, Belgium and France’. In: Youniss, J. and Levine, P. eds. Engaging Young People in Civic Life. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooghe, M. and Wilkenfeld, B. (2008) ‘The stability of political attitudes and behaviours across adolescence and early adulthood: A comparison of survey data on adolescents and young adults in eight countries’. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37(2): 155–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoskins, B., Villalba, C. M. H. and Saisana, M. (2012) The 2011 Civic Competence Composite Indicator (CCCI-2); Measuring Young People’s Civic Competence Across Europe Based On the IEA International Citizenship and Civic Education Study. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jennings, M. K. (2004) ‘American Political Participation Viewed through the Lens of the Political Socialization Project’. In: Hermann, M. G. ed. Advances in Political Psychology Volume 1. Oxford, UK: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jusko, K. L. and Shively, W. Ph. (2005) ‘Applying a two-step strategy to the analysis of cross-national public opinion data’. Political Analysis, 13(4): 327–344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karp, J. A., Banducci, S. A. and Bowler, S. (2008) ‘Getting out the vote: Party mobilization in a comparative perspective’. British Journal of Political Science, 38(1): 91–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krampen, G. (2000) ‘Transition of adolescent political action orientations to voting behaviour in early adulthood in view of a social-cognitive action theory model of personality’. Political Psychology, 21(2): 277–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leighley, J. E. and Nagler, J. (2007) ‘Unions, voter turnout, and class bias in the U.S. electorate, 1964–2004’. Journal of Politics, 69(2): 430–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loewen, P. J. and Dawes, Chr. T. (2012) ‘The heritability of duty and voter turnout’. Political Psychology, 33(3): 363–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcus, G. E. and MacKuen, M. B. (1993) ‘Anxiety, enthusiasm, and the vote: The emotional underpinnings of learning and involvement during presidential campaigns’. American Political Science Review, 87(3): 672–685.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcus, G. E., MacKuen, M. B. and Neuman, W. R. (2011) ‘Parsimony and complexity: Developing and testing theories of affective intelligence’. Political Psychology, 32(2): 323–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, P. R. (2011) ‘The emotional citizen: Emotion as a function of political sophistication’. Political Psychology, 32(4): 575–600.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nai, A. (2013) ‘What really matters is which camp goes dirty: Differential effects of negative campaigning on turnout during Swiss federal ballots’. European Journal of Political Research, 52(1): 44–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niemi, N. S. and Niemi, R. G. (2007) ‘Partisanship, participation, and political trust as taught (or not) in high school history and government classes’. Theory and Research in Social Education, 35(1): 32–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oser, J., Hooghe, M. and Marien, S. (2012) ‘Is online participation distinct from offline participation? Analysis of participation types and their stratification’. Political Research Quaterly, 66(1): 91–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pacheco, J. S. (2008) ‘Political socialization in context: The effect of political competition on youth voter turnout’. Political Behaviour, 30(4): 415–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pacheco, J. S. and Plutzer, E. (2005) ‘Families, divorce and voter turnout in the US’. Political Behaviour, 27(2): 133–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perea, E. A. (2002) ‘Individual characteristics, institutional incentives and electoral abstention in Western Europe’. European Journal of Political Research, 41(5): 643–673.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plutzer, E. (2002) ‘Becoming a habitual voter: Inertia, resources, and growth in young adulthood’. American Political Science Review, 96(1): 41–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prior, M. (2005) ‘News vs entertainment: How increasing media choice widens gaps in political knowledge and turnout’. American Journal of Political Science, 49(3): 577–592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. (2000) Bowling Alone. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sances, M. W. (2013) ‘Disenfranchisement through divorce? Estimating the effect of parental absence on voter turnout’. Political Behavior, 35(1): 199–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schoen, H. and Steinbrecher, M. (2013) ‘Beyond total effects: Exploring the interplay of personality and attitudes in affecting turnout in the 2009 German federal election’. Political Psychology, 34(4): 533–552.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shang, E. H., Seokho, K. and Jo, S. H. (2013) ‘Personality traits and political participation: Evidence from South Korea’. Political Psychology, 34(4): 511–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smets, K. and Van Ham, C. (2013) ‘The embarrassment of riches? A meta-analysis of individual-level research on voter turnout’. Electoral Studies, 32(2): 344–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Southwell, P. L. (2012) ‘Political alienation: Behavioral implications of efficacy and trust in the 2008 U.S. presidential election’. Review of European Studies, 4(2): 71–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Deth, J. W., Abendschön, S. and Vollmar, M. (2011) ‘Children and politics: An empirical reassessment of early political socialization’. Political Psychology, 32(1): 147–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verba, S., Schlozman, K. L. and Brady, H. E. (1995) Voice and Equality; Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, C.-H. (2013) ‘Why do people vote? Rationality or emotion’. International Political Science Review, 34(5): 483–501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Henk Dekker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Huron University College, Canada

    Paul Nesbitt-Larking

  2. Department of Political Science, Lund University, Sweden

    Catarina Kinnvall

  3. Department of Politics, University of Surrey, UK

    Tereza Capelos

  4. Graduate School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University, The Netherlands

    Henk Dekker

Copyright information

© 2014 Henk Dekker

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Dekker, H. (2014). Voting and Not Voting: The Principal Explanations. In: Nesbitt-Larking, P., Kinnvall, C., Capelos, T., Dekker, H. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Global Political Psychology. Palgrave Studies in Political Psychology Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-29118-9_12

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation