Electoral Choice Increasingly Polarized, Decreasing Voter Participation: A Surprising New Look at Ideology

New estimates reveal a counterintuitive relationship between ideological conflict and voter turnout.

Data & Methods

• Analyzed citizen preferences alongside candidate platform choices in U.S. House/Senate races
• Used robust empirical specifications across diverse scenarios

Key Findings

• Greater ideological differences decrease voter turnout, especially among less sophisticated citizens
• Ideology/partisanship does not explain this relationship

This Means That:

These findings challenge established theories about political participation and demonstrate how electoral choices influence mass behavior in unexpected ways.