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Rewarding conservative politicians? Evidence from voting on same-sex marriage

Author

Listed:
  • Björn Kauder

    (German Economic Institute
    CESifo)

  • Niklas Potrafke

    (CESifo
    Ifo Institute, Ifo Center for Public Finance and Political Economy
    University of Munich)

Abstract

We ask whether voters rewarded conservative politicians who voted in favor of same-sex marriage. The evidence is based on a rollcall vote in the German national parliament (Bundestag) in June 2017. That vote had a profound influence on public discourse concerning the social-political platforms of the conservative parties in Germany, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU). National elections took place in September 2017. We find that, when comparing the outcomes of the 2017 and 2013 national elections, the vote share of conservative politicians who voted in favor of same-sex marriage was around 1.29% points higher (about 0.33 standard deviations of the change in the candidate’s vote share) than the vote share of conservative politicians who did not vote in favor of same-sex marriage. Voters apparently were seeking policy outcomes other than economic ones when evaluating politicians’ performances in office.

Suggested Citation

  • Björn Kauder & Niklas Potrafke, 2022. "Rewarding conservative politicians? Evidence from voting on same-sex marriage," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 191(1), pages 161-172, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:191:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s11127-022-00958-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-022-00958-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Samuel Mann & Nigel O’Leary & David Blackaby, 2022. "Sexual orientation, political trust, and same-sex relationship recognition policies: evidence from Europe," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 192(3), pages 331-355, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Rewarding and punishing politicians; Conservative politicians; Rollcall votes; Same-sex marriage; Economic voting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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