Voter Turnout and Political Repression Under Authoritarian Rule

• In Event: Elections, Voting and Campaigning

Abstract

Studies of elections and political repression have focused on different aspects of elections as determinants of political repression under authoritarian rule. The relationship between voter turnouts and political repression, however, is yet to be studied. Given the importance of voter turnouts for authoritarian rulers’ claims to legitimacy and popular support, I hypothesize that following elections with lower voter turnouts, authoritarian rulers are less likely to use political repression. I argue this is the result of authoritarian regimes’ inclination to convince a larger proportion of citizens to vote in the subsequent election. To test this hypothesis, I use Iran as a case study of an authoritarian country with regular elections. Using weekly data for the 1996-2018 period, voter turnout in the latest presidential election shows a positive association with political repression. This shows that voter turnouts under electoral authoritarianism are positively associated with repressive behavior by the state.

Author

• Bashir Tofangsazi, Xavier University