Increasing the attractiveness of voting is often seen as a remedy for unequal participation and the influence of special-interest groups on public policy. However, lower voting costs may also bring less informed citizens to the poll, thereby inviting efforts to sway these voters. We substantiate...

<span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Attorneys elected to the US House of Representatives and to US state legislatures are systematically less likely to vote in favor of tort reforms that restrict tort litigation, but more likely to support bills that extend tort law. This finding is based on the analysis of 54 votes at the federal...</span>

AbstractIncreasing the attractiveness of voting is often seen as a remedy for unequal par- ticipation  and the influence of special-interest  groups on public policy.  However, lower voting costs may also bring less informed citizens to the poll inviting  efforts to sway these voters. We...

Attorneys elected to the US Congress and to US state legislatures are systematically less likely to vote in favor of tort reforms that restrict tort litigation, but more likely to support bills that extend tort law than legislators with a different professional background. This finding is based...

This paper addresses the personal linkages between the public administration and the legislaturethat emerge because public servants pursue a political mandate. There are concernsthat the strong representation of bureaucrats in many Western parliaments compromises theconstitutionally proposed...

Many countries are forging ahead with convenient balloting methods, in particularelectronic and postal voting, in order to re-engage voters. In this paper, we test whether thecost reductions with postal voting increase turnout. The empirical analysis is based on anewly collected data set on the...

Countries differ substantially in how they deal with politicians  that come from the public sector. Most constitutions include  incompatibility and  ineligibility rules  due  to  concerns about conflicts  of interest  and the politicization of the public  service.   We study  how...

Attorneys elected to the US House of Representatives and to US state legislatures are systematically less likely to vote in favor of tort reforms that restrict tort litigation, but more likely to support bills that extend tort law. This finding is based on the analysis of 54 votes at the federal...

Do emotions affect the decision between change and the status quo? We exploit exogenous variation in emotions caused by rain and analyze data on more than 400 ballot propositions in Switzerland for the years 1958 to 2014 to address this question. The empirical tests are based on administrative...

Many countries are forging ahead with convenient balloting methods, in particular electronic and postal voting, in order to re-engage voters. In this paper, we test whether the cost reductions with postal voting increase turnout. The empirical analysis is based on a newly collected data set on...