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Military service and political behavior: Evidence from France

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  • Fize, Etienne
  • Louis-Sidois, Charles

Abstract

We investigate the impact of compulsory military service on turnout and political preferences. Exploiting the suspension of mandatory conscription for French men, we observe a significant and positive impact of military service on turnout. We estimate that the service increases turnout by approximately 7 percentage points. We also investigate the impact of conscription on political preferences. When we control for selection into the military service, we observe no support for a change in preferences of former conscripts.

Suggested Citation

  • Fize, Etienne & Louis-Sidois, Charles, 2020. "Military service and political behavior: Evidence from France," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:122:y:2020:i:c:s0014292119302259
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2019.103364
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Voting; Turnout; Political behavior; Military service;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • F52 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - National Security; Economic Nationalism

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