Retrospective Voting in School Board Elections: Does Performance Matter?

• In Event: Poster Session: Political Organizations and Parties & Elections and Voting Behavior
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Elections and Political Behaviour

Abstract

School board elections are frequently overlooked by voters and political scientists. Despite the small-scale, low-cost and very localized nature of school board elections, participation is generally low. Even though school boards are essential legislative bodies that allocate publicly funded K-12 education services and implement educational reforms, we know remarkably little about how electoral environments in school districts shape policy outcomes. Undoubtedly, electoral considerations alter the political calculus of school board members. We posit that school board members in competitive elections will pay more attention to their constituency’s interests than school board members in less competitive environments, controlling for outside factors (i.e. local prosperity, tax burdens, and ethnic fractionalization). Using the California Elections Data Archive and student academic performance data from the California Department of Education Data Collections, we examine how election outcomes relate to school performance within the districts. We find evidence of retrospective voting and increased new participation in underperforming schools.

Authors

• Yeaji Kim, California State University, Dominguez Hills

• Scott J Hofer