Civic Engagement in the Americas

40 Pages Posted: 26 Dec 2018

See all articles by Carlos Scartascini

Carlos Scartascini

Research Department - Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

Razvan Vlaicu

Inter-American Development Bank; University of Maryland

Date Written: March 2018

Abstract

This paper estimates the effect of voting eligibility on civic engagement measured along three dimensions: political motivation, political activities, and political knowledge. These outcomes originate in the AmericasBarometer 2004-2016 surveys of eligible voters. To identify the effects the paper exploits variation in field survey dates relative to election dates, given country-specific voting age laws. It is found that voter enfranchisement increases self-reported interest in politics, political socialization, and attendance of political meetings; however, consumption of political news is not statistically different between eligible and non-eligible citizens. Some evidence indicates that the political activities voters engage in translate into increased political knowledge, in contrast with the view that voters are rationally ignorant. The effects are larger in countries with enforced mandatory voting.

Keywords: Civic engagement, Enfranchisement, Elections, Voters

JEL Classification: D12, D72, D83, O12, O17

Suggested Citation

Scartascini, Carlos G. and Vlaicu, Razvan, Civic Engagement in the Americas (March 2018). IDB Working Paper No. IDB-WP-883, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3305511 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3305511

Carlos G. Scartascini (Contact Author)

Research Department - Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) ( email )

1300 New York Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20577
United States
2026231963 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.cscartascini.org

Razvan Vlaicu

Inter-American Development Bank ( email )

1300 New York Ave NW
Washington, DC 20577
United States

University of Maryland ( email )

3114 Tydings Hall
College Park, MD 20742
United States

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

Paper statistics

Downloads
33
Abstract Views
421
PlumX Metrics