In this paper, we examine the effect of mortgage credit market conditions on U.S. elections. During the financial crisis of 2008, the U.S economy experienced a sudden drop in mortgage credit supply. According to the previous research, voters responded to the financial crisis of 2007-2008 by...

This paper analyzes the existence of electoral cycles in infrastructure provision in the context of a large rural road building program in India. We use data covering 150,000 roads over a decade to demonstrate an increase in road building activity before state elections. These electoral cycles...

The existence of dominant parties in democracies is an enduring puzzle, in part because spatial models of voting suggest that an opposition party should be able to challenge the incumbent by proposing more popular policies. We consider the preeminent case of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party...

Since the Council of Europe’s creation in 1950, the share of member states with direct democratic instruments has leaped from 40% to 87% in 2022. This article asks whether the ECHR can accommodate these instruments under Article 3 of Protocol 1, the primary provision available for such...

Does the partisanship of poll workers affect electoral outcomes? Many countries use partisan and adversarial vote-counting systems where poll workers are party representatives and mutual control is expected to provide fairness. Yet in countries with dominant party regimes, parties often have de...

Using thirty years of municipal elections in France, we show that election results affect the share of immigrants across municipalities. In municipalities where a left- instead of right-wing mayor has been elected, the share of immigrants in the population grows faster by 1.5 p.p. within six...

Purpose - This study aims to identify the factors affecting the political participation of Jordanian university students, especially their voting in national and local elections. The study examines the impact of gender, age, family income and regional affiliation that represent important social...