Young people turn out to vote at much higher rates when the age gap between candidates is larger

Recent decades have seen youth turnout at elections at levels that are consistently lower than that of older voters. In new research, Scot Schraufnagel investigates the effects of candidates’ ages on youth turnout. He finds that young Americans are much more willing to vote when two younger candidates are running. By looking at youth turnout in more than 300 midterm races, he also finds that as the age gap between two candidates increase, then so does youth turnout

Voter Turnout in Democratizing Southeast Asia: A Comparative Analysis of Electoral Participation in Five Countries

We consider alternative explanations for variation in voter turnout rates across the five countries in Southeast Asia that the Polity IV database suggests are most “democratic.” Research on voter turnout in Western states has typically drawn connections between institutional, demographic, political, and economic variables and turnout levels. In this essay, we test each group of predictors and attempt to begin the process of isolating the factors that are most relevant to electoral participation in Southeast Asia. The research finds that many traditional explanations for voter turnout are inadequate. Yet, high quality formal democracy, combined with poor economic conditions, can reasonably predict voter turnout in the countries studied. In the end, the research qualifies our results in an attempt to prompt a more thorough discussion and understanding of democratization in the region

Testing The Implications Of Incivility In The United States Congress, 1977–2000: The Case Of Judicial Confirmation Delay

The research argues that there are two empirically distinct types of conflict in the United States Congress. The first is partisan conflict or the relative divergence of the two major parties on policy issues. The second is the level of civility that characterises legislative processes in the country. Two unique measures of ‘civility’ are developed. The first is based on media reporting and the second on the coding of almanac summaries. The new indices are tested in an event history analysis of judicial confirmation delay that controls for partisan conflict and a multitude of logistical and contextual concerns that earlier research has argued are important. The analysis is fruitful; measures of partisan conflict are significant as are many other concerns. Most notably, however, the new indicators of aggregate civility perform as expected, and the delay prospective jurists experience can also be attributed to changes in levels of civility. † Henry Glick, Drew Lanier, and Jeffery Mondak and anonymous referees provided useful comments on earlier drafts of this research. Lanny Watkins and Mitch Sanders assisted in data analysis, and Wendy Martinek and Sheldon Goldman provided some data. Jessica Kippax provided valuable research assistance. © 2005, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

sj-pdf-1-slg-10.1177_0160323X231202421 – Supplemental material for Voting Restrictions and Public Health: An Analysis of State Variation 1996–2020

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-slg-10.1177_0160323X231202421 for Voting Restrictions and Public Health: An Analysis of State Variation 1996–2020 by Scot Schraufnagel in State and Local Government Review</p

Testing The Suitability Of Mediation Of Child Support Orders In Title Iv-D Cases

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to test mediation versus a traditional court process for the establishment or modification of child support orders. The intention is to determine which dispute resolution process is associated with greater client satisfaction and compliance. An auxiliary objective is to test the type of cases which are most successfully mediated. Results: The analyses suggest that client satisfaction is greater with mediation, but there is no corresponding increase in compliance. Regarding the type of cases where mediation was most fruitful, the research finds that voluntary mediation and mediator experience are both positively associated with more successful mediation. Conclusions: There is no evidence that mediation will necessarily lead to increased compliance with child support orders. © The Author(s) 2010

A Cross-National Comparison of Voter Turnout in 15 Sub-Saharan African States

The political fortunes of Sub-Saharan Africa changed dramatically in the past twenty-five years. Since the late 1980s, many countries have held regular multi-party elections. A cross-national examination of voter participation rates, a common starting point for work on democratization, is now possible. This paper represents a first look at the determinants of voter turnout in 15 African states that have witnessed some stability in national elections since 1988. Controlling for several standard explanations of voter turnout, a model is developed to test a colonial legacy thesis, which seeks to understand the influence the former colonizing power has had on contemporary political outcomes. In addition, the research examines the role played by ethnic fractionalization and religious diversity on electoral participation rates. The former is found to associate with less participation and the latter higher voter turnout. Moreover, the research uncovers, on average, voter turnout is higher in former French colonies

Term Limits, Electoral Competition, And Representational Diversity: The Case Of Florida

The article assesses two predictions made by term limits advocates: that term limits would increase electoral competition and enhance demographic representation in state legislatures. Although term limits may indeed have these consequences in some places and some times, their early effects in Florida do not provide support for these predictions. Our analysis suggests that state legislative seats that have opened up as the result of term limits yielded races with no smaller margins of victory than in previous elections, nor were they more likely to be contested by the two major political parties. Likewise, we found no significant increase in the representation of minorities or women in the Florida State Legislature after term limits. © 2006 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois