Title

Diffusion of Diaspora Enfranchisement Norms: A Multinational Study

Authors

Authors

A. Turcu;R. Urbatsch

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

Comp. Polit. Stud.

Keywords

elections; public opinion and voting behavior; migration; representation; and electoral systems; DEMOCRATIC ELECTORAL SYSTEMS; PRESIDENTIAL-ELECTION; POLICY DIFFUSION; CURRENCY CRISES; INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION; POLITICAL-ECONOMY; DUAL; CITIZENSHIP; INSTITUTIONS; CONTAGION; NETWORKS; Political Science

Abstract

States have increasingly granted voting rights to their citizens overseas. Traditional accounts of franchise extension suggest that governments' motivations are either political (new voters are expected to support the incumbent government) or, in the case of citizens abroad, materialist (a fortified link to migrants encourages remittance flows). Although these factors doubtless matter, they overlook the tendency for liberal norms to diffuse through the international system, as competition with and learning from neighbors motivate the adoption of relevant policies and institutions. We use large-N cross-national hazard models to examine whether a similar pattern holds for diaspora enfranchisement and find that neighbors' recent enactment of overseas voting nearly doubles the chance that a country will enfranchise its own diaspora. This suggests a role for international norms in determining national voting policies.

Journal Title

Comparative Political Studies

Volume

48

Issue/Number

4

Publication Date

1-1-2015

Document Type

Review

Language

English

First Page

407

Last Page

437

WOS Identifier

WOS:000349320200001

ISSN

0010-4140

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