Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/243202 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 1973
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
Habit formation theory and the transformative voting hypothesis both imply that voting has downstream consequences for turnout and political involvement. Although several studies have applied causal research designs to study this question, the long-run evidence is extremely limited, especially for potentially transformative effects. We jointly examine the short- and long-term impact of earlier voting eligibility on subsequent turnout and political involvement using rich panel data from the UK. Exploiting the eligibility cut-off for national elections within a regression discontinuity design, our precise estimates document a short-run increase in voting - for those able to vote earlier - alongside a contemporaneous increase in several measures of political involvement. However, we show that these short-term effects fade away quickly and do not translate into permanent changes in turnout propensity or political involvement. Our results imply that, in a setting with low institutional barriers to vote, the transformative effects of voting are short-lived at most.
Subjects: 
habit formation
transformative voting hypothesis
voter turnout
political involvement
regression discontinuity
JEL: 
D01
D70
D72
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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