Browsing by Author "Vonnahme, Greg"

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    Context and Political Knowledge: Explaining Cross-National Variation in Partisan Left-Right Knowledge
    (The University of Chicago Press, 2016) Fortunato, David; Stevenson, Randolph T.; Vonnahme, Greg
    We present a theory that links variation in aggregate levels of political knowledge across countries and over time to corresponding differences in the political context in which voters become (or do not become) informed. Specifically, we argue that the level of partisan left-right knowledge in a given context ultimately depends on how useful the left-right metaphor is for organizing, simplifying, or otherwise facilitating voters’ understanding of political processes. Using survey data on the distribution of left-right knowledge in 59 different contexts (in 18 countries), our analysis reveals that voters understand the relative left-right positioning of parties to a much greater degree when these positions are important predictors of the composition of policy-making coalitions, but that variation in this knowledge does not correspond to the accuracy with which the relative left-right positions of parties predicts more narrow policy positions.
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    Effect of Election Day Vote Centers on Voter Participation
    (2012) Stein, Robert M.; Vonnahme, Greg; Pew Charitable Trusts; Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
    In this article we study the effects of Election Day vote centers on voter turnout. Specifically we examine Texas and Colorado’s experience with alternative arrangements for the number and location of Election Day voting places and its impact on voter turnout in the 2006 and 2008 elections. We test our hypotheses at both the aggregate (i.e., county) and individual levels. We find evidence that vote centers increase voter turnout in presidential and midterm elections, and particularly among infrequent voters in midterms.