A rational choice model of citizen participation in high and low commitment electoral activities

Barbara Norrander, Bernard Grofman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)187-192
Number of pages6
JournalPublic Choice
Volume57
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1988
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Economics and Econometrics

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