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The effect of socioeconomic factors on voter turnout in Finland: A register‐based study of 2.9 million voters
Author(s) -
MARTIKAINEN PEKKA,
MARTIKAINEN TUOMO,
WASS HANNA
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
european journal of political research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.267
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1475-6765
pISSN - 0304-4130
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6765.2005.00242.x
Subject(s) - turnout , socioeconomic status , demographic economics , educational attainment , democracy , demography , population , social class , legitimacy , political science , power (physics) , politics , economics , economic growth , sociology , voting , physics , quantum mechanics , law
. We examine the association of four socioeconomic factors with turnout in Finland in three age groups. The analyses are based on individual‐level register data from electoral wards from the parliamentary elections of 1999 linked to population registration data on personal characteristics covering the whole 25 to 69 year‐old Finnish electorate. The results show that income and housing tenure are more important determinants of turnout among older voters than among younger voters, whereas education has a dominant role in determining young people's turnout. Moreover, class has maintained its discriminatory power in determining turnout in all age groups even though working‐class under‐representation in participation can be partly attributable to previously obtained educational attainment. Furthermore, the lower turnout of younger voters remains unexplained even if socioeconomic factors are held constant. Lower turnout among lower social classes and among the young will affect the legitimacy of the prevalent model of party democracy.