This panel looks cool! My students have been big fans of election rules, laws, and strategic voting.

Chair(s): Ken Kollman, University of Michigan

Paper(s): Voting Behavior in Dual Ballot Contests: The Case of French Presidential Elections
Using survey data from French presidential elections, we examine the extent to which voters’ strategies differ in dual ballot contests. Specifically, we explore if the differences demonstrate some kind of sophisticated behavior on the part of voters.

Eric Belanger, McGill University
Mathieu Turgeon, Universidade de Brasilia

Duverger’s Law and Information: The Role of Media Availability in the Relationship Between Electoral and Party System
This paper examines whether variation in the availability of reliable election information from the media affects coordination on two parties in single member plurality systems.
Emily Clough, Newcastle University

Estimating Strategic Voting at the District Level
We present the first approach to estimate strategic vote transfers at the district level. Using data from British General Elections we examine, among other things, how many constituencies changed hands due to strategic votes.
Michael Herrmann, University of Konstanz
Simon Munzert, University Konstanz
Peter Selb, University of Konstanz

Every Election You May Make Progress: The Gradual Impact of Electoral Reform on Voting Behavior
Using a regression discontinuity design, the paper addresses the question of how electoral reform changes the voting behavior of young people. In order to test the arguments, the 1994 New Zealand electoral reform is examined.
Pedro Riera, European University Institute

Choice, Information and Complexity: Voting Behaviour in Swiss Elections
The Swiss open ballot PR electoral system allows voters to cast a customized ballot but doing so requires considerable political information. We consider who customizes their ballot using survey data from the Making Electoral Democracy Work project.
Laura B. Stephenson, University of Western Ontario
Marian Bohl, University Zurich
Ekrem Karakoc, Pennsylvania State University
Andre Blais, Université de Montréal
Hanspeter Kriesi, University Zurich

Discussant(s): Steven J. Brams, New York University
Ken Kollman, University of Michigan