This article argues that compulsory voting encourages political parties to shift toward programmatic vote seeking and away from clientelistic tactics like vote buying. Across multiple studies, including cross-national analyses comparing countries with mandatory voting (e.g., Thailand) and optional systems, synthetic control methods analyzing regional reforms in places like Argentina, and direct tests using list experiments measuring party behavior changes, the findings consistently support this theory.
Cross-National Analyses: Comparing electoral data from diverse regions reveals that parties increasingly emphasize policy platforms rather than clientelism when voting is mandatory. Countries implementing compulsory voting systems show reduced reliance on vote buying tactics across multiple elections.
Thailand Case Study (Synthetic Control): A detailed analysis of Thailand's transition to compulsory voting demonstrates how this reform influenced campaign strategies, leading to measurable increases in programmatic appeals and decreases in clientelistic practices within key political parties.
Argentina Natural Experiment: Using list experiments alongside Argentina's compulsory voting implementation provides direct evidence that parties strategically reduced vote buying activities while intensifying their policy-based messaging during election periods.
These findings collectively suggest that mandatory voting creates structural incentives for parties to pursue more institutionalized, less personalized electoral strategies.
