Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T14:54:26.470Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Electoral turnout in Muslim-majority states: A macro-level panel analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2013

Daniel Stockemer  and
Susan Khazaeli
Daniel Stockemer*
Affiliation:
University of Ottawa
Susan Khazaeli*
Affiliation:
University of Ottawa
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Daniel Stockemer, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa, 75 Laurier Avenue East, Ottawa ON, K1N 6N5, Canada. E-mail: dstockem@uottawa.ca
Susan Khazaeli, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa, 75 Laurier Avenue East, Ottawa ON, K1N 6N5, Canada. E-mail: skhaz100@uottawa.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

High voter turnout gives legitimacy to the political system and strengthens the stability of a country. Since voter turnout matters, it is important to determine which factors boost electoral participation. While there is a vast literature on turnout focusing on institutional, socio-economic, and contextual indicators, there appears to be a shortage of scholarship on the relationship between religion and turnout. In our study, we evaluate the impact of the Islamic religion on electoral participation. Drawing on a large dataset that incorporates all legislative elections worldwide from 1970 to 2010 and controlling for compulsory voting, the electoral system type, the decisiveness of the election, the competitiveness of the election, the size of the country, the regime type and development, we find that Muslim-majority countries have lower turnout rates than majority non-Muslim countries. We also find electoral participation to be lower in countries where Islamic tenets are more strongly entrenched in politics.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , March 2014 , pp. 79 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aart, Kees, and Wessels, Bernhard. (2005). “Electoral Turnout.” In The European Voter: A Comparative Study of European Democracies, ed. Thomasson, Jacques. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Abramson, Paul R., Diskin, Abraham, and Felsenthal, Dan S.. (2007). “Non-Voting and Decisiveness of Electoral Outcomes.” Political Research Quarterly 60:500–515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, Daron, and Robinson, James A.. (2006). Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Almond, Gabriel, and Verba, Sidney. (1963). The Civic Culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltagi, Badi H., Song, Seuck Heun, Jung, Byoung Cheol, and Koh, Won (2007). “Testing for Serial Correlation, Spatial Autocorrelation and Random Effects Using Panel Data.” Journal of Econometrics 140:5–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barro, Robert J. (1999). “Determinants of Democracy.” Journal of Political Economy 107:S158–S183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bellin, Eva. (2004). “The Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East.” Comparative Politics 36:131–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berman, Sheri. (1997). “Civil Society and the Collapse of the Weimar Republic.” World Politics 40:401–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blais, André, and Dobrzynska, Agnieszka. (1998). “Turnout in Electoral Democracies.” Journal of European Research 33:239–261.Google Scholar
Blais, André, Massicotte, Louis, and Dobrzynska, Agnieszka. (1998). Why is Turnout Higher in Some Countries than in Others? Ottawa: Elections Canada.Google Scholar
Blais, André. (2006). “What Affects Voter Turnout?” Annual Review of Political Science 9:111–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lisa, Blaydes, and Linzer, Drew A.. (2008). “The Political Economy of Women's Support for Fundamentalist Islam.” World Politics 60:576–609.Google Scholar
Blaydes, Lisa. (2006). “Who Votes in Authoritarian Elections and Why?: Determinants of Voter Turnout in Contemporary Egypt.” Paper prepared for 2006 Annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, 31 August – 3 September 2006, Philadelphia, PA.Google Scholar
Brown, Archie. Ed. (1984). Political Culture and Communist Studies. London: Macmillan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA): “The World Factbook.” https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ (Accessed on October 12, 2011).Google Scholar
Cherif, Feryal M. (2010). “Culture, Rights, and Norms: Women's Rights Reform in Muslim Countries.” Journal of Politics 72:1144–1160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Green, John C.. (2007). “The Politics of American Muslims.” In From Pews to Polling Places: Political Mobilization in the American Religious Mosaic, ed. Matthew, J. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 213–250.Google Scholar
Elazar, Daniel J. (1970). Cities of the Prairie: The Metropolitan Frontier and American Politics. New York, NY: Basics.Google Scholar
Endersby, James W., and Krieckhaus, Jonathon T.. (2008). “Turnout around the Globe: The Influence of Electoral Institutions on National Voter Participation, 1972–2000.” Electoral Studies 27:601–610.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Esposito, John L., and Voll, John O.. (1996). Islam and Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fish, Steven M. (2002). “Islam and Authoritarianism.” World Politics 55:4–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franklin, Mark N. (2004). Voter Turnout and the Dynamics of Electoral Competition in Established Democracies since 1945. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geys, Benny. (2006). “Explaining Voter Turnout: A Review of Aggregate-Level Research.” Electoral Studies 25:637–663.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, Anthony. (2001). “Religion and Comparative Politics.” Annual Review of Political Science 4:117–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Peter A. (1999). “Social Capital in Britain.” British Journal of Political Science 29:417–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamdani, Daood. (2005). “Muslim Women: From Polling Booths to Parliament” Canadian Council of Muslim Women 3:1–18.Google Scholar
Hay, Colin. (2007). Why We Hate Politics. Cambridge: Policy.Google Scholar
Hill, David B. (1981). “Political Culture and Female Representation.” Journal of Politics 43:159–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald. (1988). “The Renaissance of Political Culture.” The American Political Science Review 82:1203–1230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald. (1990). Culture Shift in Advanced Industrialized Societies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald. (1997). Modernization and Postmodernization. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) (2011). “Parline Database: Electoral System Module.” http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/mod-electoral.asp (Accessed on February 5, 2011).Google Scholar
Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) (2011). “Parline Database on National Parliaments.” http://www.ipu.org/parline (Accessed on January 21, 2011).Google Scholar
Jackman, Robert, and Miller, Ross A.. (1995). “Voter Turnout in the Industrial Democracies during the 1980s.” Comparative Political Studies 27:467–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackman, Robert W. (1987). “Political Institutions and Voter Turnout in the Industrial Democracies.” American Political Science Association 81:405–424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karp, Jeffrey A., and Banducci, Susan A.. (1999). “The Impact of Proportional Representation on Turnout: Evidence from New Zealand.” Australian Journal of Political Science 34:363–367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karp, Jeffrey A., and Banducci, Susan A.. (2008). “Political Efficacy and Participation in Twenty Seven Democracies: How Electoral Systems Shape Political Behavior.” British Journal of Political Science 38:311–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, Richard S. (1997). Democracy and Elections. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keddie, Nikki R. (1998). “The New Religious Politics: Where, When, and Why Do ‘Fundamentalisms’ Appear?” Comparative Study of Social History 40:696–723.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keddie, Nikki. (1990). “The Past and Present of Women in the Muslim World.” Journal of World History 1:77–108.Google Scholar
Kincaid, John. (1980). “Political Cultures of the American Compound Republic.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 10:6–11.Google Scholar
King, James D. (1994). “Political Culture, Registration Law, and Voter Turnout Among the American States.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 24:115–128.Google Scholar
Kostadinova, Tatiana, and Power, Timothy J.. (2007). “Does Democratization Depress Participation.” Political Research Quarterly 60:363–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, Martha. (2000). Millennial Visions: Essays on Twentieth Century Millenarianism. Westport, CT: Praeger.Google Scholar
Lever, Anabelle. (2008). “A Liberal Defense of Compulsory Voting: Some Reasons for Scepticism.” Politics 28:61–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lijphart, Arend. (1979). “Religious vs. Linguistic vs. Class Voting: The Crucial Experiment of Comparing Belgium, Canada, South Africa, and Switzerland.” The American Political Science Review 73:442–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipset, Seymour Martin. (1990). “The Centrality of Political Culture.” Journal of Democracy 1:80–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, M.G., Gurr, T.R., Davenport, C., and Jaggers, K.. (2002). “Polity IV, 1800–1999: Comments on Munck and Verkuilen.” Comparative Political Studies 35:40–45.Google Scholar
Morgan, David R., and Watson, Sheilah S.. (1991). “Political Culture, Political System Characteristics, and Public Policies Among the American States.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 21:32–35.Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa, and Inglehart, Ronald (2011). Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Connell, Ann A., and McCoach, Betsy D.. (2008). Multilevel Modeling Educational Data. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.Google Scholar
Pintor, Raphael L., Gratschew, Maria, and Sullivan, Kate. (2002). “Voter Turnout Rates in a Comparative Perspective.” In Voter Turnout Since 1945: A Global Report, eds. Pintor, Raphael L., and Gratschew, Maria. Stockholm: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.Google Scholar
Political Risk Services (PRS Group) (2012). “The International Country Risk Services.” http://www.prsgroup.com/ICRG.aspx (Accessed on July 12, 2012).Google Scholar
Powell, G. Bingham. (1986). “American Voter Turnout in Comparative Perspective.” The American Political Science Review 80:17–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Przeworski, Adam, Alvarez, Michael E., Cheibub, Jose Antonio, and Limongi, Fernando. (2000). Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-Being in the World, 1950–1990. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, Andrew, Reilly, Ben, and Ellis, Andrew. (2005). Electoral System Design: The New International IDEA Handbook. Stockholm: International IDEA.Google Scholar
Robinson, Glenn E. (1997). “Can Islamists be Democrats? The Case of Jordan.” Middle East Journal 51:373–87.Google Scholar
Rothstein, Bo. (2001). “Social Capital in the Social Democratic Welfare State.” Politics & Society 29:207–241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schumpeter, Joseph A. (1976). Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. London: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Selb, Peter. (2009). “A Deeper Look at the Proportionality Turnout Nexus.” Comparative Political Studies 42:527–548.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharkansky, Ira. (1969). “The Utility of Elazar's Political Culture: A Research Note.” Polity 2:66–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spierings, Niels, Smits, Jeroen, and Verloo, Mieke. (2009). “On the Compatibility of Islam and Gender Equality: Effects of Modernization, State Islamization, and Democracy on Women's Labor Market Participation in 45 Muslim Countries.” Social Indicators Research 90:503–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stark, Rodney. (1999). “Secularization, R.I.P.” Sociology of Religion 60:249–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tarrow, Sidney. (1996). “Making Social Science Work across Space and Time: A Critical Reflection on Robert Putnam's Making Democracy Work.” The American Political Science Review 90:389–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tessler, Mark, and Gao, Eleanor. (2005). “Gauging Arab Support for Democracy.” Journal of Democracy 16:83–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Traub, James. (2007). “Islamic Democrats?” New York Times, April 29.Google Scholar
United Nations (UN). “GDP per Capita.” http://data.un.org/Data.aspx&q=GDP+per+capita&d=SNAAMA&f=grID%3a101%3bcurrID%3aUSD%3bpcFlag%3a1 (Accessed on April 1, 2011).Google Scholar
United Nations Statistical Division. (2011). “Population and Vital Statistics Report.” http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/vitstats/default.htm (Accessed on February 5, 2012).Google Scholar
Verba, Sidney, and Nie, Norman H.. (1972). Participation in America: Political Democracy and Social Equality. New York, NY: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Weiffen, Brigitte. (2004). “The Cultural-Economic Syndrome: Impediments to Democracy in the Middle East.” Comparative Sociology 3:353–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, Halbert (1980). “A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity.” Econometrica 48:817–838.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, Richard W. (2000). “The Many Voices of Political Culture: Assessing Different Approaches.” World Politics 52:246–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfinger, Raymond E., and Rosenstone, Steven J.. (1980). Who Votes? New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Wood, Richard L. (1997). “Social Capital and Political Culture: God Meets Politics in the Inner City.” American Behavioral Scientist 40:595–605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Stockemer Supplementary Material

Table 2 and 3

Download Stockemer Supplementary Material(File)
File 38.9 KB