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Voting on Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Citizens More Supportive than Politicians

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  • David Stadelmann
  • Benno Torgler

Abstract

As the public debate over stem cell research continues, the observable voting behaviour in Switzerland offers a unique opportunity to compare the voting behaviour of politicians with that of voters. By analysing the outcomes of a referendum on a liberal new bill regulating such research, we reveal an about 10 percentage point lower conditional probability of the bill being accepted by politicians than by voters. Whereas the behaviour of politicians is driven almost entirely by party affiliation, citizen votes are driven not only by party attachment but also by church attendance. Seldom or never attending church increases the probability of bill acceptance by over 15 percentage points, while supporting the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party instead of the Christian Democratic Party makes supporting the bill more likely for voters, suggesting that religious observance is important. The observance of these tendencies in Switzerland—an environment that promotes discussion through direct democratic rights—strongly suggests that citizens see the benefits of stem cell research.

Suggested Citation

  • David Stadelmann & Benno Torgler, 2017. "Voting on Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Citizens More Supportive than Politicians," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0170656
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170656
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    1. Stadelmann, David & Portmann, Marco & Eichenberger, Reiner, 2013. "Quantifying parliamentary representation of constituents’ preferences with quasi-experimental data," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 170-180.
    2. Robin Lovell-Badge, 2001. "The future for stem cell research," Nature, Nature, vol. 414(6859), pages 88-91, November.
    3. Zohal Hessami, 2016. "How Do Voters React to Complex Choices in a Direct Democracy? Evidence from Switzerland," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(2), pages 263-293, May.
    4. Jerg Gutmann, 2015. "Believe, But Verify? The Effect of Market Structure on Corruption in Religious Organizations," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 153-164, May.
    5. Torgler, Benno, 2006. "The importance of faith: Tax morale and religiosity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 81-109, September.
    6. David Cyranoski & Sara Reardon, 2015. "Embryo editing sparks epic debate," Nature, Nature, vol. 520(7549), pages 593-594, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. David Stadelmann, 2018. "Testing Proposals for a “Democracy of the Future”," Homo Oeconomicus: Journal of Behavioral and Institutional Economics, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 123-126, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General

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