Last year, President Obama mused that making voting mandatory could be “transformative.” But which party would benefit if every citizen were legally compelled to fill out a ballot?
A study using historical data from Switzerland—where many policy decisions are made by popular vote—provides the purest indicator yet that such laws benefit leftist causes.
A research team led by political scientist Michael Bechtel looked at referendums conducted between 1908 and 1948, comparing otherwise similar regions with mandatory and optional voting. It found compulsory voting “increases relative support for leftist policy positions,” such as a guaranteed minimum wage, by an average of 19 percentage points. The study suggests that, when everyone votes, and when they are asked to endorse policies as opposed to weighing the flaws of actual candidates, the left gets a lift.
—“Does Compulsory Voting Increase Support for Leftist Policy?” Bechtel, M., Hangartner, D., and Schmid, L., American Journal of Political Science, 2015.
Quick Studies is an award-winning series that sheds light on new research and discoveries that change the way we look at the world.
Submit your response to this story to letters@psmag.com. If you would like us to consider your letter for publication, please include your name, city, and state. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, and may be published in any medium.
For more from Pacific Standard, and to support our work, sign up for our free email newsletter and subscribe to our print magazine, where this piece originally appeared. Digital editions are available in the App Store and on Zinio and other platforms.
