Do High Ballot Access Thresholds Lead to Greater Polarization?

• In Event: Election Law in the States

Abstract

A large body research examines how polarization is affected by electoral institutions, this literature has found little if any effect. This paper examines the understudied electoral rule of ballot access laws, which inhibit minor party and independent candidate from running in a general election. The paper examines the impact these laws have on candidate entry, finding when access to the general election is blocked minor party candidates instead run in major party primaries. The paper next examines how this process impacts the polarization and inter-party heterogeneity within these states. The paper finds polarization increases when states adopt high ballot access thresholds, inter-party heterogeneity increases as well within both the Democratic party and especially the Republican party.

Author

• Cassidy Reller, University of California, San Diego