Mechanical and Psychological Effects of Electoral Reform
37 Pages Posted: 11 Jul 2011
Date Written: June 30, 2011
Abstract
Duverger (1954) noted that changes in electoral systems will have two types of effects: mechanical effects, and reactions of political agents in anticipation of these, which he referred to as psychological effects. It is complicated to empirically separate the two effects since these occur simultaneously. In this paper we use a large set of counterfactual election outcomes to address this issue. Our application is based on a nationwide municipal electoral reform in Norway, which changed the seat allocation method from d’Hondt to modified Sainte-Lagüe. Even though this electoral reform is of a relatively small magnitude, we document substantial psychological effects.
JEL Classification: C100, H700
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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