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Political Interest, Cognitive Ability and Personality - Determinants of Voter Turnout in Britain

Author

Listed:
  • Kevin Denny

    (University College Dublin)

  • Patrick Orla Doyle

    (University College Dublin)

Abstract

This paper uses longitudinal data from the National Cohort Development Study (NCDS) to investigate the determinants of voter turnout in the 1997 British General Election. It introduces measures of cognitive ability and personality into models of electoral participation and finds that firstly, their inclusion reduces the impact of education and secondly, that standard turnout models may be biased by the inclusion of the much used “interest in politics” measure. A bivariate probit model of turnout and interest then shows that individuals with high ability, an aggressive personality and a sense of civic duty are more likely to both turn out to vote and to have an interest in politics.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin Denny & Patrick Orla Doyle, 2005. "Political Interest, Cognitive Ability and Personality - Determinants of Voter Turnout in Britain," Working Papers 200511, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucn:wpaper:200511
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    File URL: http://www.ucd.ie/economics/research/papers/2005/WP05.11.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kevin Denny, 2003. "The effects of human capital on social capital : a cross-country analysis (version 1.6)," Working Papers 200318, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    2. Valentino Larcinese, 2009. "Information Acquisition, Ideology and Turnout: Theory and Evidence From Britain," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 21(2), pages 237-276, April.
    3. Mueller, Gerrit & Plug, Erik, 2004. "Estimating the Effect of Personality on Male-Female Earnings," IZA Discussion Papers 1254, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    8. Kevin Denny, 2003. "The effects of human capital on social capital: a cross-country analysis," IFS Working Papers W03/16, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
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    10. Milligan, Kevin S & Moretti, Enrico & OREOPOULOS, PHILIP, 2003. "Does Education Improve Citizenship? Evidence from the U.S. and the U.K," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt6qw5h964, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hilde Coffé & Tanja Lippe, 2010. "Citizenship Norms in Eastern Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 96(3), pages 479-496, May.
    2. Arnaud Chevalier & Orla Doyle, 2012. "Schooling and voter turnout : is there an American exception?," Working Papers 201213, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    3. Panu Pelkonen, 2012. "Length of compulsory education and voter turnout—evidence from a staged reform," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 51-75, January.
    4. Kevin Denny & Orla Doyle, 2009. "Does Voting History Matter? Analysing Persistence in Turnout," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(1), pages 17-35, January.
    5. repec:ucn:wpaper:10197/167 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. R. Urbatsch, 2012. "The paradox of voting intelligently," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 150(3), pages 511-524, March.

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