Party System Polarization and Electoral Participation

Research Project

Project/Area Number	26780082
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Politics
Research Institution	Tokyo Metropolitan University (2015-2016) The University of Tokyo (2014)
Principal Investigator	Sakaiya Shiro 首都大学東京, 社会科学研究科, 准教授 (70568419)
Project Period (FY)	2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2016)
Budget Amount *help	¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000) Fiscal Year 2016: ¥520,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥120,000) Fiscal Year 2015: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000) Fiscal Year 2014: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Keywords	政治参加 / 投票参加 / 政治的平等 / 政党システム / 政治的格差 / 国際比較分析
Outline of Final Research Achievements	This study examines whether voters who see larger ideological differences between the parties are more likely to participate in elections. This hypothesis is implied by Anthony Downs’s classical rational voter theory. To test this hypothesis, recent surveys of Japanese voters and large-scale international comparative surveys (Comparative Study of Electoral Systems) are utilized. A new index is proposed to measure voters’ subjective degree of party system polarization and used as a key independent variable. The results suggest that the Downs’ hypothesis is valid in Japan and many other democracies.

Report

(4 results)