Making sense of voting “habits”
Applying the process model of behavior change to a series of large-scale get-out-the-vote experiments
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13015656 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John Ternovski (0000-0002-7211-6833, Georgetown University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 175-190 |
| Publication date | 2023-09-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Experimental Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2052-2630 • E-ISSN: 2052-2649 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/xps.2023.25 |
| OpenAlex | W4386833692 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 42 |
I apply a new theoretical framework to voting to more cohesively bridge the economic cost-benefit model of voting with the psychology-motivated voting-as-a-habit literature. This new theoretical frame gives greater clarity as to how a vote in one election might beget a vote in another election, while yielding testable predictions as to which circumstances are more favorable for developing turnout persistence. To test these predictions, I make use of a novel dataset consisting of nine large-N, door-to-door voter mobilization field experiments in various election contexts (with ∼1.8 million voters in total). Consistent with prior empirical research, my analysis finds that being nudged to vote in one election leads to increased turnout four years later. But the main contribution of this paper is that the theoretical framework’s predictions and the corresponding empirical results make sense of turnout persistence heterogeneities that have been detected in certain prior empirical studies but not others
CLARITY · Econometrics · Economics · Empirical research · Field (mathematics · Geography · Political science · Positive economics · Scale (ratio · Statistics · Turnout · Voting · Voting behavior · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Law · Mathematics · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology
Mobilizing Inclusion
Voter Turnout
Weak Instruments in Instrumental Variables Regression
Voting to Tell Others
Randomized experiments from non-random selection in U.S. House elections
Promoting habit formation
The Formation of Voting Habits
Identification of Causal Effects Using Instrumental Variables
Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments
Persistence in Political Participation
Text Messages as Mobilization Tools
Differential influences on participation in midterm versus presidential elections
The legacy of lethargy
It’s Largely a Rigged System
Gubernatorial and Senatorial Campaign Mobilization of Voters
Turning Out Unlikely Voters? A Field Experiment in the Top-Two Primary
The Enduring Effects of Social Pressure
Turnout as a Habit
The Downstream Benefits of Experimentation
On the Validity of the Regression Discontinuity Design for Estimating Electoral Effects
Ideology, Not Affect
Who Is Mobilized to Vote? A Re‐Analysis of 11 Field Experiments
Does Voting History Matter? Analysing Persistence in Turnout
Don't Forget to Vote
Voting May Be Habit‐Forming
Is Voting Habit Forming? New Evidence from Experiments and Regression Discontinuities
Habit Formation and Political Behaviour
Changing circumstances, disrupting habits
Habits in everyday life
Field Experiments and the Study of Voter Turnout
Automaticity
Affective polarization and the salience of elections
Social pressure and voting
No sorting, no advantage
A Theory of the Calculus of Voting
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |