Norms, Identity, and Power
A Political Economy Analysis of why the Poor Vote More in India
Contrary to trends in Western democracies, in India higher proportion of the rural and poor citizens vote compared to the urban and the non-poor. This paper seeks to explore this unusual aspect of the Indian democracy through a theoretical and empirical lens. Using political economy theories of beliefs, social norms, identity, and power, this paper attempts to shed light on the divergent mindsets of poor and non-poor Indian voters and the incentives they face for voting.
Ground in this theory, this paper uses data on voter turnout at the constituency and state levels to explore the factors that significantly affect turnout in India in order to understand the implications of high turnout among the poor for policy. It finds a significant negative relationship between constituency size and turnout and that urban constituencies have 6% lower turnout on average. It concludes that the poor and non-poor vote at different rates because they experience the state differently.