Hanna Wass

Styles of Political Representation: What Do Voters Expect?

Abstract Until recently, voters’ views on the representational roles of MPs have been a largely unexplored field in the studies of political behaviour. With the exception of the work by Carman, and Mendez‐Lago & Martínez, the few existing studies have mainly been conducted in the US and are fairly dated. In this study, we are partly filling this gap by examining voters’ views on representational roles in the Finnish open‐list PR system with mandatory preferential voting, which is characterized by a strong degree of candidate centeredness. Based on the Finnish national election study 2007 (FSD2138, N = 1,422), we first analyse support for various representational styles most often discussed in the literature, i.e. resemblance, delegation and trustee model, and then account for it through the social and political background of the respondents. The results show that both the delegate and trustee styles of representation are almost equally popular. The support for the different styles of representation is connected to socio‐demographic factors and to some extent political integration and orientation. Based on our findings we argue that the Finnish context becomes particularly evident in the heavy investment placed by voters on individual representatives. Finally, more research in the field, and especially development of more nuanced survey instruments are required in order to fully account for the complex nature of citizens’ expectations of the representational relationship.

Political Socialization and Voting: The Parent–Child Link in Turnout

Status transmission theory represents an important challenge to social learning theory, but its generalizability may be limited to countries where there is a strong intergenerational correlation in educational attainment. Based on a unique data set that matches register data from the 1999 Finnish parliamentary elections with individual-level data provided by Statistics Finland for a sample of eighteen- to thirty-year-olds and their parents, we assess these two explanations for unequal turnout. We first show that parental education does affect the turnout of young adults, as predicted by status transmission theory. However, parental voting rather than the transmission of education from parent to child appears to be the more important mediating factor. We then go on to demonstrate that there is a strong association between parental voting and the turnout of their adult children that is independent of the effects of parental education. More detailed tests of a number of implications derived from social learning theory reinforce our conclusion that the theory offers a superior explanation in countries where there is not a strong parent–child link in educational attainment.

Representation of the Work-related Immigration Issue: Positions of the Finnish Electorate and MP Candidates in the 2003 Parliamentary Elections

Deriving from the general theories of representation, as well as from the economic interest thesis on the issue of immigration, the paper examines the opinion congruence on the work-related immigration issue between voters, non-voters, elected MP candidates and non-elected MP candidates in the Finnish parliamentary elections of 2003. The study is based on the pooled data (N = 2,712) from the Finnish National Election Study 2003 and the Candidate Selection Machine 2003. The results show that the four groups have significant attitudinal differences, and that the more positive attitudes of candidates cannot be explained by group differences in social status. The opinion representation would thus not have worked better even if the electorate had voted based on social resemblance.

Engaging Immigrants? Examining the Correlates of Electoral Participation among Voters with Migration Backgrounds

Abstract An increasing number of eligible citizens in North America and Europe were born outside of these countries. As remarked by Heath et al. [2011. “Ethnic Heterogeneity in the Social Bases of Voting at the 2010 British General Election.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties 21 (2): 255–277], in the case that voters with migration background respond differently to established correlates of turnout, understanding the role of immigration-specific factors becomes particularly important. On the basis of individual-level register data from the 2012 Finnish municipal elections (n = 585,839), we examine whether the effect of socioeconomic status on turnout differs according to citizenship status and test which indicators of social and political integration boost participation among foreign-born voters. We find, in line with the different response model, that the impact of age and education is weaker among voters with migration background. In addition, having a native spouse and minor children, past eligibility and being born in a democratic country increase turnout among foreign-born voters, lending support for the assimilation, exposure and transferability models. Finally, the findings concerning the resistance model were opposite to our expectations. Older age at the time of immigration increases participation, but only among migrants born in a democratic country.

The Generational Effect in Turnout in the Swedish General Elections, 1960–2010

Recent analyses have reported a generational pattern in electoral participation both in national and the European Parliament elections which suggests that a lower voting propensity among the younger cohorts remains relatively stable over time. Based on the Swedish national election studies 1960–2010, this article examines the magnitude of generational differences in a high-turnout context. It contributes to earlier studies by using multilevel modeling to estimate the impacts of life cycle, generation and period on turnout and by aiming to account for the generational effect with institutional- and individual-level factors. The results show a fairly modest generational effect. When controlling for the proportion of party members in the electorate and the effective number of parties, the differences between generations in their propensities to vote are substantially reduced.

How voter turnout varies between different chronic conditions? A population-based register study

Background While poor self-rated health is known to decrease an individuals propensity to vote, disaggregation of the components of health on turnout has thus far received only little attention. This study deepens on the understanding of such relationships by examining the association between chronic diseases and voting. Methods The study uses an individual-level register-based data set that contains an 11% random sample of the entire electorate in the 1999 Finnish parliamentary elections. With information on hospital discharge diagnoses and reimbursements for drugs prescribed, we identify persons with chronic hospital-treated diseases (coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, depression, cancer, psychotic mental disease, diabetes, cerebrovascular disease, rheumatic disease, epilepsy, arthrosis, alcoholism, dementia, atherosclerosis, Parkinsons disease, other degenerative brain diseases, multiple sclerosis and kidney disease). Results After adjusting for gender, age, education, occupational class, income, partnership status, cohabitation with underaged children and hospitalisation during Election Day, neurodegenerative brain diseases had the strongest negative relationship with voting (dementia OR=0.20, 95% CI 0.18 to 0.22; others up to OR=0.70). Alcoholism (OR=0.66) and mental disorders also had a negative association (depression OR=0.91; psychotic mental disease OR=0.79), whereas cancer and COPD/asthma had a positive association (both OR=1.05). Having more than one condition at a time further decreased voting probability. Conclusions By showing how different health conditions are related to voter turnout, this study provides essential information for identifying gaps in the potential for political participation and for further inquiries aiming to develop models that explain the link between health and voting probability.

Voting while ailing? The effect of voter facilitation instruments on health-related differences in turnout

ABSTRACT Several studies suggest that people suffering from ill health or disabilities have a lower propensity to vote. Using six rounds of the European Social Survey, we examine whether the effect of health or functional disabilities on electoral participation is less or more pronounced in countries which utilize a wider range of facilitation instruments, such as advance or postal voting, proxy voting and voting outside the polling stations. Our findings show that with the exception of proxy voting, voter facilitation instruments not only have insignificant main effects but also a negative interaction effect with poor health/functional ability (FA). As a result, voter facilitation intensifies the health-related differences but not by activating those who are more active to begin with, as suggested in previous studies. The endogeneity argument thus seems most warranted explanation for our findings: countries with low turnout among people with impaired FA or health are more likely to adapt facilitation practices.

Can you deliver a baby and vote? The effect of the first stages of parenthood on voter turnout

ABSTRACT Becoming a parent is a profound change in one’s life that likely has consequences for political mobilization. This paper focuses on the earliest stages of parenthood, which have rarely been theorized nor empirically investigated. Close to childbirth, there may be substantial demobilizing effects due to hospital stays, immediate childcare responsibilities, parenting distress and the physical burden of pregnancy and childbirth. It is unclear how sizeable these effects are on political demobilization as well as the extent to which they are long-lasting. Based on two individual-level register datasets from Denmark and Finland, we compare the voter turnout among parents in local elections across different dates of childbirth. We find a robust negative short-term effect. We also find that the recovery periods after childbirth are differentiated by gender, illustrating a somewhat stronger demobilizing effect of early stages of motherhood compared to the early stages of fatherhood. There are also some indications that recovery periods after childbirth are slower for women with higher socioeconomic backgrounds. Our study shows that childbearing and childbirth have strong demobilizing, although mostly temporary, implications for electoral participation, even in these strong welfare states.

Explaining Social Class Inequality in Voter Turnout: The Contribution of Income and Health

Occupation-based social class is an important, yet under-explored, factor in electoral participation. In this article, social class differences in voter turnout over time are measured, and how two other resources – namely income and health – mediate or modify this relationship is analysed. The analysis is based on an individual-level register-based 11 percent sample of the entire electorate in the 1999 Finnish parliamentary elections, and secondarily on smaller register-based samples in the 2012 presidential and municipal elections. Results show that income mediates part of the effects of social class on voting, while social class and utilised health indicators exert mainly independent effects on turnout. Social class differences remain largely stable in all income and hospital care groups, except that no differences between classes are observed among those most severely affected by health problems. Results are also mostly similar between those of working age and the older population, and between men and women, and remain stable over time and in different types of elections. The findings imply that social class should be taken account in theoretical and empirical models of turnout.