Research report 2008 - Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies

No Big Deal? Why a Lower Voter Turnout is Bad for Democracy

Authors
Schäfer, Armin
Departments

Institutioneller Wandel im gegenwärtigen Kapitalismus (Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Streeck)
MPI für Gesellschaftsforschung, Köln

Summary
Voter turnout in Germany is decreasing as it is in many established democracies. At the same time other modes of participation in politics are increasing. This combination is detrimental to the democratic ideal of political equality because elections are less socially skewed than other types of political participation.

For the full text, see the German version.

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