'I Pay Enough Taxes Already!’ Applying Economic Voting Models to Environmental Referendums

Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 89, No. 5, pp. 1336-1355, December 2008

32 Pages Posted: 4 Jul 2011

See all articles by Nicholas Bornstein

Nicholas Bornstein

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Philippe Thalmann

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne - Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)

Date Written: July 4, 2006

Abstract

Objectives. Models of economic voting have rarely been applied to referendum votes. We fill this gap by testing citizens' voting behavior on environmental policy in relation to their perception of the business cycle and general orientation towards politics. Thus, the study examines the personal, institutional and economic determinants of vote choice on 36 environmental bills from 1983 to 2004 in Switzerland.

Methods. We apply a logistic hierarchical model, where individual characteristics on level-1 are nested within contextual determinants situated on level-2.

Results. We confirm the crucial importance of the individual-level variables education, political affïnity, car ownership and urbanity. Classifying the electorate into five groups, using open-ended survey questions about respondents' reasons for approval or dismissal of the bills, allows for finer hypotheses testing. We show that the individuals' positive perception of their personal current economic conditions has a positive effect on the likelihood of supporting the proposals. In turn, we prove the negative, constraining effect of deteriorating macroeconomic conditions on approval rates.

Conclusions. By applying economic voting models to referendum analyses we advance the understanding of citizens' vote choice on environmental ballots, we show the role of context and we propose an original typology of voters' general orientation towards politics.

Keywords: green tax reform, ecological tax, energy tax, direct democracy, referendum, switzerland

Suggested Citation

Bornstein, Nicholas and Thalmann, Philippe, 'I Pay Enough Taxes Already!’ Applying Economic Voting Models to Environmental Referendums (July 4, 2006). Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 89, No. 5, pp. 1336-1355, December 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1878503

Nicholas Bornstein

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne ( email )

Station 5
Odyssea 1.04
1015 Lausanne, CH-1015
Switzerland

Philippe Thalmann (Contact Author)

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne - Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) ( email )

EPFL ENAC IA LEURE
Station 16
Lausanne, CH-1015
Switzerland
+41 21 693 7321 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://people.epfl.ch/philippe.thalmann

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
40
Abstract Views
666
PlumX Metrics