Document Type
Honors Project
Abstract
Why do some people vote for ballot measures that are inconsistent with their policy preference while others do not? It is important to explore this question in order to understand how well direct democracy translates the will of the people into policy outcomes. Drawing on electoral theories and cognitive science, I hypothesize that people are more likely to vote against their policy preferences when the language of a ballot measure is more complex. I test this hypothesis, along with causal mechanisms and heterogeneous treatment effects, using a survey experiment on a quasi-representative sample of voters in the United States.
Recommended Citation
Pierce, William M., "How Ballot Measure Wording Affects Preference-Consistent Voting: Experimental Evidence from the United States" (2024). Political Science Honors Projects. 107.
https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/poli_honors/107
Included in
American Politics Commons, Comparative Politics Commons, Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons
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