Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Maldonado, Arturo
Author's Email Address	arturo.maldonado@vanderbilt.edu
URN	etd-11202015-184530
Title	The Origins and Consequences of Compulsory Voting in Latin America
Degree	PhD
Department	Political Science
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Elizabeth J. Zechmeister Committee Co-Chair Mitchell A. Seligson Committee Co-Chair André Blais Committee Member Cindy D. Kam Committee Member Jonathan Hiskey Committee Member
Keywords	comparative politics Latin America turnout compulsory voting
Date of Defense	2015-11-12
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract This dissertation engages in a comprehensive evaluation of compulsory voting in Latin America. In doing so, it first analyzes the origins of compulsory voting in Latin America and demonstrates that variations in the balance of power among elite factions and between the elite and disenfranchised groups are fundamental for understanding whether universal suffrage and compulsory voting were implemented as a package or if they were implemented at different points in time in Latin America. Second, this dissertation examines whether compulsory voting diminishes differences in electoral participation across socioeconomic and political groups and provides strong evidence that compulsory voting is more effective at reducing political differences than socioeconomic or civic-minded gaps in electoral participation. Finally, this dissertation assesses the effect of compulsory voting on citizens’ sense of duty and finds that reminders of punishments reduce citizens’ levels of civic duty and that this effect is monotonic: the harsher the punishment, the lower the intrinsic motivation to vote.
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