A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä
Policy feedback and voter turnout : Evidence from the Finnish basic income experiment
Tekijät: Hirvonen, Salomo; Schafer, Jerome; Tukiainen, Janne
Kustantaja: Wiley
Kustannuspaikka: HOBOKEN
Julkaisuvuosi: 2024
Journal: American Journal of Political Science
Tietokannassa oleva lehden nimi: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
Lehden akronyymi: AM J POLIT SCI
Sivujen määrä: 18
ISSN: 0092-5853
eISSN: 1540-5907
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12915
Verkko-osoite: https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12915
Rinnakkaistallenteen osoite: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/459119801
In many democracies, unemployed and low-income citizens are less willing to vote. Can social policies weaken the link between income and turnout? We study policy feedback leveraging a unique experiment in Finland, which randomly assigned a sizable group of unemployed to receiving an unconditional basic income (BI) for 2 years (2017-19). Combining individual-level registry and survey data, we show that the intervention has large positive effects on voter turnout. Unconditional BI increases turnout in municipal elections by about 3 percentage points (p.p.), on average, an effect that is concentrated among marginal voters (+ 6-8 p.p.) and persists in national elections after the end of the experiment. Exploring possible mechanisms, our analysis highlights the role of the interpretive effects that follow from unconditionality in the bureaucratic process, including higher levels of political trust and efficacy. We discuss implications for theories of voter turnout and policy feedback, and the design of BI policies.
Ladattava julkaisu This is an electronic reprint of the original article. |  |
Julkaisussa olevat rahoitustiedot:
We are grateful to Stiftung Grundeinkommen, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, and the European Union (Tukiainen, ERC, INTRAPOL, 101045239) for financial support. Open access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.
