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Youth Enfranchisement, Political Responsiveness, and Education Expenditure: Evidence from the U.S

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  • Bertocchi, Graziella
  • Dimico, Arcangelo
  • Russo, Alessia
  • Lancia, Francesco

Abstract

We examine the link between the political participation of the young and fiscal policies in the U.S. The focus is on preregistration laws, which allow the young to register before being eligible to vote. We document that preregistration promotes a de facto youth enfranchisement episode. Moreover, we establish that preregistration shifts state government spending toward higher education, the type of spending for which the young have the strongest preference. The increase in state financial support for higher education is confirmed at the higher education institution level. The results collectively suggest political responsiveness to the needs of the newly enfranchised constituency.

Suggested Citation

  • Bertocchi, Graziella & Dimico, Arcangelo & Russo, Alessia & Lancia, Francesco, 2017. "Youth Enfranchisement, Political Responsiveness, and Education Expenditure: Evidence from the U.S," CEPR Discussion Papers 12332, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12332
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    2. Francesco Lancia & Alessia Russo, 2016. "Public Education and Pensions in Democracy: A Political Economy Theory," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 14(5), pages 1038-1073.
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    5. Timothy Besley & Stephen Coate, 1997. "An Economic Model of Representative Democracy," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 85-114.
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    7. Graziella Bertocchi & Arcangelo Dimico & Francesco Lancia & Alessia Russo, 2020. "Youth Enfranchisement, Political Responsiveness, and Education Expenditure: Evidence from the US," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 76-106, August.
    8. Raghabendra Chattopadhyay & Esther Duflo, 2004. "Women as Policy Makers: Evidence from a Randomized Policy Experiment in India," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 72(5), pages 1409-1443, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lo Prete, Anna & Sacchi, Agnese, 2023. "Civic engagement and government spending: Lessons from global warming," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 202319, University of Turin.
    2. Graziella Bertocchi & Arcangelo Dimico & Francesco Lancia & Alessia Russo, 2020. "Youth Enfranchisement, Political Responsiveness, and Education Expenditure: Evidence from the US," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 76-106, August.
    3. Nyhus, Ole Henning & Strøm, Bjarne, 2023. "School spending and extension of the youth voting franchise: Quasi-experimental evidence from Norway," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    4. Ole Henning Nyhus & Bjarne Strøm, 2023. "Young Voters and Budget Deficits," CESifo Working Paper Series 10388, CESifo.
    5. Navid Sabet & Christoph Winter, 2023. "Immigrant Legalization and the Redistribution of State Funds: Evidence from the 1986 IRCA," CESifo Working Paper Series 10787, CESifo.
    6. Stahl, Jörg R., 2023. "Changes in the electorate and firm values: Evidence from the introduction of female suffrage in Switzerland," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 386-402.
    7. Clemens, Jeffrey & Veuger, Stan, 2021. "Politics and the distribution of federal funds: Evidence from federal legislation in response to COVID-19," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    8. Klien, Michael & Melki, Mickael & Pickering, Andrew, 2021. "Voter turnout and intergenerational redistribution," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 603-626.
    9. Anna Maria Koukal & Patricia Schafer & Reiner Eichenberger, 2020. "The Trade-off between Deepening and Broadening of Democracy Lessons from Youth Enfranchisement," CREMA Working Paper Series 2020-16, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    10. Ole Henning Nyhus & Bjarne Strøm, 2019. "School spending and extension of the youth voting franchise: Evidence from an experiment in Norway," Working Paper Series 17719, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
    11. Funk, Patricia & Litschig, Stephan, 2020. "Policy choices in assembly versus representative democracy: Evidence from Swiss communes," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    12. Bhatt, Rachana & Dechter, Evgenia & Holden, Richard, 2020. "Registration costs and voter turnout," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 91-104.
    13. Anna Maria Koukal & Marco Portmann, 2020. "Political Integration of Foreigners How does foreigners suffrage impact natives’ attitudes?," CREMA Working Paper Series 2020-05, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Higher education expenditure; Political responsiveness; Preregistration; Voter turnout; Youth enfranchisement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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