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Minority Turnout and Representation under Cumulative Voting. An Experiment

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  • Alessandra Casella
  • Jeffrey Guo
  • Michelle Jiang

Abstract

Under majoritarian election systems, securing participation and representation of minorities remains an open problem, made salient in the US by its history of voter suppression. One remedy recommended by the courts is Cumulative Voting (CV): each voter has as many votes as open positions and can cumulate votes on as few candidates as desired. Theory predicts that CV encourages the minority to overcome obstacles to voting: although each voter is treated equally, CV increases minority's turnout relative to the majority, and the minority's share of seats won. A lab experiment based on a costly voting design strongly supports both predictions.

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  • Alessandra Casella & Jeffrey Guo & Michelle Jiang, 2021. "Minority Turnout and Representation under Cumulative Voting. An Experiment," NBER Working Papers 28674, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28674
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    1. Luke Glowacki & Florian Morath & Hannes Rusch, 2023. "High minority power facilitates democratization across ethnic fault lines," Working Papers 2023-18, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • K16 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Election Law

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