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Ballot or Bullet: The Impact of UK's Representation of the People Act on Peace and Prosperity

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  • Rohner, Dominic
  • Saia, Alessandro

Abstract

Does democracy hold its promise to curb domestic political violence? While the matter has been heatedly debated for decades, not much reliable causal evidence exists so far. To study this question we focus on UK's Victorian Age of Reform, and in particular the Representation of the People Act of 1867 -- which is widely regarded as a critical juncture in the history of democratization. We have constructed a novel dataset on conflict events and economic performance around the 1868 Elections (the first elections where newly enfranchised citizens could vote) and exploit arguably exogenous variation in enfranchisement intensity across UK cities. We find a strong and robust peace-promoting effect of franchise extension and identify as major channel the beneficial impact of representation on local economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Rohner, Dominic & Saia, Alessandro, 2020. "Ballot or Bullet: The Impact of UK's Representation of the People Act on Peace and Prosperity," CEPR Discussion Papers 15280, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:15280
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social violence; Conflict; Riots; Democracy; Enfranchisement; Franchise extension; Voting; Elections; Growth; Development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

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