A reassessment of the association between political interest and electoral participation
Adding vote overreporting to the equation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9537600 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andreas C Goldberg (0000-0002-4110-6229, Norwegian University of Science and Technology), Pascal Sciarini (0000-0003-0782-7652, University of Geneva, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 141-160 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Acta Politica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0001-6810 • E-ISSN: 1741-1416 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1057/s41269-022-00238-7 |
| OpenAlex | W4220744113 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 35 |
Electoral participation research points to political interest as a strong and consistent predictor of voting, but overlooks the propensity of interested people to overreport in surveys. Vote validation studies demonstrate that vote overreporting exaggerates the association between political interest and turnout, but fails to highlight the pathways through which this bias occurs. To fill this gap and link these two strands of literature, we take a closer look at the relationships between political interest, likelihood of voting (as defined by one's actual voting record), and participation in given vote, while taking care of overreporting. Applying causal mediation models to a unique set of validated vote data, we show that the modus operandi of overreporting is both direct and indirect: A portion of politically interested people overreport their vote regardless of whether they usually vote or not. Yet, the indirect path also matters: Another portion of interested people do vote frequently, which prompts them to overreport if they for once abstain. This is consequential for the commonly found association between political interest and turnout
Association (psychology · Contingent vote · Group voting ticket · Mediation · Political science · Politics · Set (abstract data type · Turnout · Voter turnout · Voting · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Psychology · Social Capital and Networks · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology
The Statistical Analysis of Quasi-Experiments
Mediation
A general approach to causal mediation analysis.
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Lost on the Way
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Voice and Equality
Social Desirability and Response Validity
Race And Turnout In U.S. Elections Exposing Hidden Effects
Little White Lies and Social Science Models
You’ve Either Got It or You Don’t? The Stability of Political Interest over the Life Cycle
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Overreporting Voting
Reducing Vote Overreporting in Surveys
The Accuracy of Self-Reported Data and Prediction of Political Activity
Do Surveys Overestimate or Underestimate Socioeconomic Differences in Voter Turnout? Evidence from Administrative Registers
The Social Rewards of Engagement
On the Overreport Bias of the National Election Study Turnout Rate
Voter Turnout and the National Election Studies
Putting voter turnout in a longitudinal and contextual perspective
Does Voting History Matter? Analysing Persistence in Turnout
Voting May Be Habit‐Forming
Habit Formation and Political Behaviour
Overreporting And Electoral Participation Research
Explaining political sophistication
The embarrassment of riches? A meta-analysis of individual-level research on voter turnout
Voter overrepresentation, vote misreporting, and turnout bias in postelection surveys
Who Overreports Voting
Beyond SES
Becoming a Habitual Voter
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |