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Are Voters Better Informed When They Have a Larger Say in Politics? Evidence for the European Union and Switzerland

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Matthias Benz
Alois Stutzer:

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Abstract

Public choice theory takes citizens as rationally ignorant about political issues, because the costs of being informed greatly exceed the utility individuals derive from it. The costs of information (supply side) as well as the utility of information (demand side), however, can vary substantially depending on the political system under which citizens live. Using a large survey from Switzerland, we present empirical evidence that citizens are politically better informed when they have more extended participation rights in the political process. The results corroborate theoretical arguments and circumstantial evidence that voter information should be treated as endogenously determined by political institutions.

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Paper provided by Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW in its series IEW - Working Papers with number iewwp119.

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Handle: RePEc:zur:iewwpx:119

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Related research
Keywords: voter competence; direct democracy; information costs; rational ignorance;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
H00 - Public Economics - - General - - - General

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Nannestad, Peter & Paldam, Martin, 1994. " The VP-Function: A Survey of the Literature on Vote and Popularity Functions after 25 Years," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 79(3-4), pages 213-45, June.
  2. Matsusaka, John G, 1995. " Explaining Voter Turnout Patterns: An Information Theory," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 84(1-2), pages 91-117, July.
  3. Frey, Bruno S, 1994. "Direct Democracy: Politico-economic Lessons from Swiss Experience," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(2), pages 338-42, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Bohnet, Iris & Frey, Bruno S, 1994. "Direct-Democratic Rules: The Role of Discussion," Kyklos, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 47(3), pages 341-54.
  5. Alois Stutzer, . "Demokratieindizes für die Kantone der Schweiz," IEW - Working Papers iewwp023, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
  6. Moulton, Brent R, 1990. "An Illustration of a Pitfall in Estimating the Effects of Aggregate Variables on Micro Unit," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(2), pages 334-38, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Frey, Bruno S. & Stutzer, Alois, 2000. "Happiness, Economy and Institutions," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Christoph A. Schaltegger & Lars Feld, 2001. "On Government Centralization and Budget Referendums: Evidence from Switzerland," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Monika Bütler & Michel André Maréchal, 2007. "Framing Effects in Political Decision Making: Evidence From a Natural Voting Experiment," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2007 2007-04, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Stefan Voigt, 2008. "The (Economic) Effects of Lay Participation in Courts – A Cross-Country Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Philip Jones, 2007. "Colluding victims: A public choice analysis of international alliances," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 132(3), pages 319-332, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Roger Congleton, 2007. "Informational limits to democratic public policy: The jury theorem, yardstick competition, and ignorance," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 132(3), pages 333-352, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Stefan Voigt & Lorenz Blume, 2006. "The Economic Effects of Direct Democracy - A Cross-Country Assessment," Discussion Papers in Economics 84/06, University of Kassel, Institute of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Bruno S. Frey & Simon Luechinger, . "Measuring Terrorism," IEW - Working Papers iewwp171, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
  7. ALDASHEV, Gani, 2006. "Political information acquisition for social exchange," CORE Discussion Papers 2006020, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE). [Downloadable!]
  8. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2003. "Direct Democracy: Designing a Living Constitution," CREMA Working Paper Series 2003-05, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, . "The Role of Direct Democracy and Federalism in Local Power," IEW - Working Papers iewwp209, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Lars P. Feld, 2004. "The European Constitution Project from the Perspective of Constitutional Political Economy," Marburg Working Papers on Economics 200415, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung). [Downloadable!]
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