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  5. Corrupted Votes and Rule Compliance

Corrupted Votes and Rule Compliance

  • Arno Apffelstaedt ⓡ
  • Jana Freundt
American Economic Journal: Microeconomics (Forthcoming)

Abstract

Allegations of voter fraud accompany many real-world elections. How does electoral malpractice affect the acceptance of elected institutions? Using an online experiment in which participants distribute income according to majority-elected rules, we show that those who experience vote buying or voter disenfranchisement during the election are subsequently less likely to voluntarily comply with a rule. On average, the detrimental impact of electoral malpractice on compliance is of the same magnitude as removing the election altogether and imposing a rule exogenously. Our experiment shows how corrupting democratic processes impacts economic behavior and sheds light on factors that may underlie “rule legitimacy”.

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