Youth Enfranchisement. Political Responsiveness. and Education Expenditure: Evidence from the US

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bertocchi, Graziella; Dimico, Arcangelo; Lancia, Francesco; Russo, Alessia
• 署名单位: Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia; Center for Economic & Policy Research (CEPR); IZA Institute Labor Economics; Queens University Belfast; University of Salerno; BI Norwegian Business School
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20180203
• 发表日期: 2020
• 页码: 76-106
• 关键词: womens suffrage; DEMOCRACY; GROWTH; POLICY; franchise; turnout; POWER; size; redistribution; REGISTRATION

摘要

We examine the link between the political participation of the young and fiscal policies in the United States. We generate exogenous variation in participation using the passage of preregistration laws, which allow the young to register before being eligible to vote. After documenting that preregistration promotes youth enfranchisement, we show that preregistration shifts state government spending toward higher education, the type of spending for which the young have the strongest preference. A 1 percent increase in youth voter turnout generates a 0.77 percent increase in higher education spending. The results collectively suggest political responsiveness to the needs of the newly enfranchised constituency.