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Buying Votes across Borders? A List Experiment on Mexican Immigrants in the US

Author

Listed:
  • Jaehyun Song

    (Waseda Institute of Advanced Studies, Waseda University)

  • Takeshi Iida

    (Department of Political Science, Doshisha Universit)

  • Yuriko Takahashi

    (School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University)

  • Jesús Tovar

    (Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México)

Abstract

Although immigrant populations have grown worldwide, their electoral connections with their home countries have been understudied. This study investigated vote-buying in the overseas ballot. Focusing on the 2018 federal elections in Mexico, we assumed that the recent reform of extending voting rights abroad, the lower socioeconomic status of the immigrants, the dubious secret ballot, and the weak oversight mechanisms in overseas ballots provided favorable conditions for buying expatriates' votes through the cross-border networks. Our list experiment found that approximately 32 percent of Mexican immigrants in the US experienced vote-buying during the electoral campaign. Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that the most susceptible to vote-buying were those who were female, young, full-time workers, contacted by party activists, supporters of PAN (Partido Acción Nacional) and MORENA (Movimiento Regeneración Nacional), and living where there was a high concentration of Hometown Associations (HTAs).

Suggested Citation

  • Jaehyun Song & Takeshi Iida & Yuriko Takahashi & Jesús Tovar, 2020. "Buying Votes across Borders? A List Experiment on Mexican Immigrants in the US," Working Papers 1919, Waseda University, Faculty of Political Science and Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:wap:wpaper:1919
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nichter, Simeon, 2008. "Vote Buying or Turnout Buying? Machine Politics and the Secret Ballot," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 102(1), pages 19-31, February.
    2. Horacio Larreguy & Cesar E. Montiel Olea & Pablo Querubin, 2017. "Political Brokers: Partisans or Agents? Evidence from the Mexican Teachers' Union," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 61(4), pages 877-891, October.
    3. Ezequiel Gonzalez‐Ocantos & Chad Kiewiet de Jonge & Carlos Meléndez & Javier Osorio & David W. Nickerson, 2012. "Vote Buying and Social Desirability Bias: Experimental Evidence from Nicaragua," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(1), pages 202-217, January.
    4. Stokes, Susan C., 2005. "Perverse Accountability: A Formal Model of Machine Politics with Evidence from Argentina," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 99(3), pages 315-325, August.
    5. F. Daniel Hidalgo & Simeon Nichter, 2016. "Voter Buying: Shaping the Electorate through Clientelism," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 60(2), pages 436-455, April.
    6. Larreguy, Horacio & Marshall, John & Querubín, Pablo, 2016. "Parties, Brokers, and Voter Mobilization: How Turnout Buying Depends Upon the Party’s Capacity to Monitor Brokers," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 110(1), pages 160-179, February.
    7. Imai, Kosuke, 2011. "Multivariate Regression Analysis for the Item Count Technique," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 106(494), pages 407-416.
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    Keywords

    vote-buying; overseas ballot; list experiment; immigration; Mexico; US;
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