Do boundary consolidations alter the relationship between politicians and voters? The case of municipal mergers in Japan

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6302583
AutoresKyohei Yamada (0000-0003-0800-069X, Graduate School of International Relations, International University of Japan;, Niigata Japan, autor correspondente), Kiichiro Arai (Chuo University)
Ano2021
Volume47
Fascículo4
Páginas519-545
Data de publicação2021-07-04
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoLocal Government Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0300-3930 • E-ISSN: 1743-9388
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03003930.2020.1761335
OpenAlexW3027946902
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas10
Referências citadas49

This paper examines whether boundary changes lead to changes in the relationship between voters and politicians. We focus on the wave of municipal mergers in Japan that took place in the 2000s in order to examine this question. Municipalities with small population size, once they merge with their larger neighbours, would have a small number of voters relative to the size of the electorate in the post-merger municipalities. Therefore, municipal politicians in the post-merger municipalities do not have strong electoral incentives to receive support from geographic areas corresponding with pre-merger municipalities of small population size. Using a survey of voters in 89 locations corresponding with pre-merger municipalities, we demonstrate that voters who live in small municipalities that experienced mergers interact with politicians less frequently and have less favourable impressions of politicians than before the mergers. These patterns are not observed in municipalities that did not experience mergers

Business · Economic geography · Economics · Incentive · Market economy · Merge (version control · Mergers and acquisitions · Population · Population size · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Demography · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Finance