In this study, we examine the extent to which political knowledge affects the importance of voting motives in electoral decision-making. Using political knowledge as a measure of sophistication, this ...

Recent research suggests that long-term determinants of vote choice have weakened, while short-term considerations have become increasingly influential, contributing to rising electoral volatility. Bu...

News avoidance and congruent voting. Results of an electoral panel study in Belgium

News avoidance and congruent voting. Results of an electoral panel study in Belgium

Acta Politica - Research on the consequences of compulsory voting often relies on a hypothetical question on what respondents would do if legislation were changed. It is well-known, however, that...

Abolishing Compulsory Voting: The 2024 Experience in the Flemish Region of Belgium By Marc Hooghe, University of Leuven, and Dieter Stiers, University of Leuven There are few clear-cut examples of countries that have abolished or introduced compulsory voting. When the Netherlands abolished the system in 1971, Irwin (1974) documented how this led to a sharp reduction in voter turnout, especially among young people, women, and those with little political interest.

It has been well established that the effectiveness and quality of political representation is unequally distributed in Western democracies. Scholars have frequently warned about the rise of ‘diploma ...

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Abolishing Compulsory Voting: The 2024 Experience in the Flemish Region of Belgium - Volume 58 Issue 4

De publieke opinie in Wallonië schoof op een structurele manier naar rechts. En het traditionele beeld van een ‘links Wallonië' komt niet onmiddellijk terug.

The idea that regional elections automatically could be considered as second-order elections has been criticized in the recent literature, as the rise of regional authority implies that the regiona...

The idea that regional elections automatically could be considered as second-order elections has been criticized in the recent literature, as the rise of regional authority implies that the regiona...

It has been well established that the effectiveness and quality of political representation is unequally distributed in Western democracies. Scholars have frequently warned about the rise of ‘diploma ...