Voting Costs and American Democracy: How Electoral Laws Affect Representation

This project examines how electoral laws have affected matters of participation and representation. I test this relationship in three ways. First, I examine how participation costs have changed since 2008 by constructing a participation cost index. This measurement tool looks at electoral laws and procedures that increase the individual costs of voting. Second, I use this index as the main explanatory variable for predicting candidate emergence of state legislatures. Instead of focusing on turnout, I focus on politicians in order to advance our understanding on the impact of electoral laws and costs of voting on matters of representation. Finally, I present a descriptive picture on the type and quantity of electoral laws that have been introduced and passed since 2011. Using original data collected from the National Council of State Legislatures, I present information on both the number of restrictive and expansive laws introduced and passed from 2011 to 2021.