Richard Boyd has argued that the proliferation of elections across the calendar is one source contributing to the decline in turnout over the past two decades. Two such election calendar reforms, the adoption of the presidential primary and the separation of the election of the governor from the election of the president, were used to test the thesis. Cross-sectional, quasi-experimental, and multiple regression tests indicate no support for the Boyd thesis.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ASHER, H.
(1976) Presidential Elections and American Politics.Homewood, IL: Dorsey.
2.
BOYD, R.
(1981) “Decline of U.S. voter turnout: structural explanations.”Amer. Politics Q.9: 131-152.
3.
CAMPBELL, D.
and J. STANLEY (1963) Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research.Skokie, IL: Rand McNally.
4.
KING, G.
(1981) “Non-voting, 1969-1979.”DEA News (spring): 10-15.
5.
RUSK, J.
(1970) “The effects of the Australian ballot reform on split ticket voting: 1876-1908.”Amer. Pol. Sci. Rev.64: 1220-1228.
6.
Statistical Abstract of the United States (1980) Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.