Unequal Political Participation Worldwide

This book describes the levels of unequal electoral participation in thirty-six countries worldwide.

Aina Gallego (Author)

9781107023536, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 December 2014

252 pages, 18 b/w illus. 14 tables
21.8 x 14.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.48 kg

'In this important, clearly written book, Gallego shows that the linkage between education and electoral participation across thirty-six democracies varies enormously … The book is particularly impressive in [two] ways: the first is a careful distinction between homogeneous and heterogeneous effects, that is, factors that affect all potential voters equally versus differentially; the second … is the inclusion of three survey experiments testing the effects of ballot structures and the extent of electoral and governmental fragmentation on the probability to vote.' A. Siaroff, Choice

Highly educated citizens vote at much lower rates than less educated citizens in some countries. By contrast, electoral participation exhibits no such bias in other countries as diverse as Spain, Denmark, and South Korea. This book describes the levels of unequal participation in thirty-six countries worldwide, examines possible causes of this phenomenon, and discusses its consequences. Aina Gallego illustrates how electoral procedures, party and media systems, unionization, and income inequality impact unequal participation through an original combination of cross-national survey data and survey experiments.

Introduction
1. Unequal participation around the world
2. Heterogeneous consequences of contexts on participation
3. The difficulty of the voting procedure
4. Government fragmentation and media systems
5. Trade unions in the highly educated membership era
6. Income inequality and the participation of lower-status groups
7. Consequences of unequal participation for representation
Conclusions.

Subject Areas: Political activism [JPW], Regional government [JPR], Political structure & processes [JPH], Comparative politics [JPB], Political science & theory [JPA], Politics & government [JP]