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The Phenomenon of Wasted Vote in the Parliamentary Elections of India

In: Analytical Issues in Trade, Development and Finance

Author

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  • Sanmitra Ghosh

    (Jadavpur University)

Abstract

This chapter takes up the phenomenon of strategic voting in the Indian context and tries to find empirical support for predictions of Duverger’s law: The volume of wasted votes should be very low in large elections. The chapter finds an interesting fact: While the volume of wasted votes is quite large, much of it is ineffective in terms of it being pivotal in changing the outcome of an election. This study also identifies the importance of ethnic heterogeneity as a determinant of the volume of wasted votes. An apparent puzzle is also identified: When elections between the top two candidates are close, the volumes of wasted votes tend to be larger, which contradicts a prediction of the calculus of voting theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Sanmitra Ghosh, 2014. "The Phenomenon of Wasted Vote in the Parliamentary Elections of India," India Studies in Business and Economics, in: Ambar Nath Ghosh & Asim K. Karmakar (ed.), Analytical Issues in Trade, Development and Finance, edition 127, chapter 20, pages 343-367, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:isbchp:978-81-322-1650-6_20
    DOI: 10.1007/978-81-322-1650-6_20
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