Replication Data for: Compulsory Voting Increases Men's Turnout Most

Equal turnout fosters equal representation. As such, researchers have long sought to understand what causes gender differences in voter participation. I argue that compulsory voting increases men’s turnout relative to that of women. This is because men are particularly receptive to external incentives, while women are more intrinsically motivated. Within Brazil and across countries, I use administrative data to show that compulsory voting increases men’s turnout most. I also argue that, due to social desirability bias, nonvoting women are most likely to claim to have participated under mandatory voting. With comparisons of official and reported turnout, I demonstrate compulsory voting increases women’s turnout overreporting relative to that of men. By increasing men’s relative turnout, compulsory voting could introduce or accentuate representational disparities in favor of men, and this potentiality can be obscured by survey data.

平等的投票参与率有助于实现平等的代表权。有鉴于此，长期以来研究者一直致力于探究选民参与率性别差异的成因。本文认为，强制投票制（compulsory voting）会提升男性相较于女性的投票参与率。这是由于男性对外在激励的接受度更高，而女性的投票动机更偏向内在驱动。在巴西境内以及跨国层面，本文借助行政数据证实，强制投票制对男性投票参与率的提升效果最为显著。本文同时提出，受社会期望偏差（social desirability bias）影响，未实际投票的女性在强制投票制度下更倾向于声称自己参与了投票。通过对比官方投票数据与自我申报的投票数据，本文证实，相较于男性，强制投票制会加剧女性的投票参与率虚报情况。强制投票制通过提升男性的相对投票参与率，可能会催生或加剧偏向男性的代表权失衡，而这一潜在影响可能会被调查数据所掩盖。