Underprivileged Voters and Electoral Exclusion in Contemporary Europe (Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology)

This volume investigates the reasons behind voter turnout inequalities in contemporary Europe. It looks at the socioeconomic factors that can inhibit electoral participation at the individual level, and how these factors interact with the institutional constraints regulating access to the electoral arena, and considering the changes affecting the class system and occupational opportunities. The volume also reflects on the long-term effects of the 2008 Great Recession on the stability of democracy and the individual lives of voters, who are often deprived of institutional representation and left with the choice between anti-system protest and disengagement from politics. Praise for Underprivileged Voters and Electoral Exclusion in Contemporary Europe Contents List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction References 2 Voter Turnout and Imperfect Inclusivity: A Democratic Problem Democracy and Representation: The Theoretical Debate The Management of Participation in the Age of Mass Parties After the Golden Age: Streamlined Parties and New Inequalities The Voters We Have Lost in a Global World References 3 Turnout and Socio-economic Inequality at the Individual Level The Resource Theory of Political Participation and Beyond Unbundling Socio-economic Status Unemployment, Insecurity and Turnout Who Feels Underprivileged? Subjective Status Inconsistency and Relative Deprivation References 4 The Institutional Determinants of Turnout Inequalities Excluded by Law: Non-eligible Voters as Neglected Categories The Impact of Political Institutions and the Nature of Elections Socio-economic Considerations and the Turnout Gap Welfare State Systems and Cultural Norms as Barriers to Voting The Enduring Effect of Political Mobilisation References 5 Voting in Times of Crisis: From Opting Out to Regaining a Voice The Political Consequences of the Economic Downturn The Rise of Populism and the Claim of Representing the Poor Economic Adversity, Populist Supply and Turnout: An Uncertain Relationship References 6 Conclusion References Appendix Index This volume investigates the reasons behind contemporary participatory inequality, the form and dimensions it assumes in relation to the institutional constraints that regulate access to the electoral arena and socio-cultural transformations which have altered both the class structures and the territorial basis of voting. At the same time, it analyses the effects that the intensification of these processes risk to produce, if uncontrolled, on the stability of the democratic system and on the individual life of voters, deprived of institutional representation and left with the alternatives of protest (channelled by existing parties or elements outside the party system) or detachment from politics. Dario Tuorto is Associate Professor in Sociology at the Department of Education, University of Bologna, Italy