Diffusion Of Diaspora Enfranchisement Norms: A Multinational Study

Keywords

elections; migration; public opinion and voting behavior; representation and electoral systems

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.

Publication Date

3-6-2015

Publication Title

Comparative Political Studies

Volume

48

Issue

4

Number of Pages

407-437

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414014546331

Socpus ID

84922254813 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84922254813

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS