Running toward rankings
Ranked choice voting's impact on candidate entry and descriptive representation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6231237 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jonathan Colner (0000-0001-8633-2839, Department of Political Science University of California, Davis Davis California USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 1010-1028 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ajps.12908 |
| OpenAlex | W4402366916 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 51 |
Does the implementation of a ranked choice voting (RCV) system increase the number, diversity, and quality of candidates competing in local elections? Using original data from 273 cities across three decades and employing a preregistered difference‐in‐differences design with matching, I find that the size of the candidate pool increases following implementation. However, this effect dissipates in later election cycles, indicating that RCV has no long‐term effect on candidate entry. Indeed, the short‐term increase in the candidate pool mostly reflects increased entry by low‐quality candidates with little chance of winning. Additionally, I find that RCV has no effect on the proportion of female and non‐white candidates running for office. These results call into question several purported benefits of RCV and suggest that RCV, by itself, might not be sufficient to influence candidate entry at the local level
Descriptive research · Descriptive statistics · Econometrics · Information retrieval · Political science · Politics · Representation (politics · Statistics · Voting · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Game Theory and Voting Systems · Gender Politics and Representation · Mathematics · Psychology
Making Votes Count
Votes from Seats
How much should we trust staggered difference-in-differences estimates?
Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimators with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects
Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing
Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods
Assessing the “Experience Bonus” Through Examining Strategic Entry, Candidate Quality, and Campaign Receipts in U.S. House Elections
When to Risk It? Institutions, Ambitions, and the Decision to Run for the U.S. House
Genetic Matching for Estimating Causal Effects
Demographic Disparities Using Ranked-Choice Voting? Ranking Difficulty, Under-Voting, and the 2020 Democratic Primary
Using Campaign Communications to Analyze Civility in Ranked Choice Voting Elections
Election Reform and Women’s Representation
Electoral institutions, gender stereotypes, and women's local representation
The Single Transferable Vote and Voter Turnout in the 2004 Local Elections
Writing the Rules to Rank the Candidates
Party Elites and Women Candidates
What Underlies Urban Politics? Race, Class, Ideology, Partisanship, and the Urban Vote
Gendered Recruitment without Trying
Recruitment and Perceptions of Gender Bias in Party Leader Support
Beyond Supply and Demand
State Legislators as Congressional Candidates
Power, Conflict, and Community
Counting Candidates
Effective” Number of Parties
Local Elections and Representation in the United States
Context, Electoral Rules, and Party Systems
Matching Methods for Causal Inference with Time‐Series Cross‐Sectional Data
At‐Large Elections and Minority Representation in Local Government
Women Don't Run? Election Aversion and Candidate Entry
Election Laws, Mobilization, and Turnout
The Context Matters
Entering the Arena? Gender and the Decision to Run for Office
Gender Stereotyping and the Electoral Success of Women Candidates
Party Splits, Not Progressives
Ranked-Choice Voting and the Potential for Improved Electoral Performance of Third-Party Candidates in America
Whose Votes Count
Public Election Funding, Competition, and Candidate Gender
Making wasted votes count
How Do Campaign Spending Limits Affect Elections? Evidence from the United Kingdom 1885-2019
Electoral Reform and Trade-Offs in Representation
Campaign civility under preferential and plurality voting
Confused or competent? How voters use the STV ballot paper
The alternative vote
Ballot (and voter) "exhaustion" under Instant Runoff Voting
Do text messages increase voter registration? Evidence from RCTs with a local authority and an advocacy organisation in the UK
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |