Beschreibung
According to mainstream democratic theory, the ideal citizen in a
democracy should participate regularly in political activities and be well
informed. The reality, however, is somewhat different. Election turnout is
declining or low in many countries and studies have shown that most
citizens are poorly informed about politics. This book discusses what
consequences low turnout and low information might have: would higher
levels of turnout and better informed citizens lead to different political
outcomes in elections and other types of votes? This empirical analysis
draws two conclusions. First, it shows that political outcomes sometimes
would be different if turnout and information levels were higher, but that
no one political party would systematically benefit from that. Second, it
shows that especially low levels of information among the voters, but less
so low turnout, tend to produce distortions in the sense that if people
were better informed, they would sometimes but not always have chosen
different parties and policies.
Georg Lutz studied political science and history in Berne and Geneva and
currently works at the University of Berne. His main research and teaching
focus is political behaviour and political institutions.
