Chapter 6. Norms and National Turnout

Federal elections like those to select the president or congressional representatives are highly publicized events in the United States with many mobilization efforts involved. Still, only about half of Americans turnout for these elections. Can social norms help explain who turns out and why voting varies across racial groups? Using validated vote data from 2016, 2014, and 2012, results show that the honoring ancestors norm regularly outperforms other known predictors of turnout including education, political recruitment, and political interest. It does so across racial groups and helps to explain the gap in turnout among racial minorities. Two experiments further confirm that: 1) social rewards for turnout in national elections vary across racial groups, with Black Americans in mostly Black networks likely to reward their peers for voting. And 2), the honoring ancestors norm can be primed to mobilize low-propensity Black voters.

Demographic economics · Economics · Ethnic group · Norm (philosophy) · Political science · Politics · Racial group · Turnout · Voter turnout · Voting · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Public Administration