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Increasing and Diversifying Turnout in Non-electoral Participation: A Field Experiment.

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Title: Increasing and Diversifying Turnout in Non-electoral Participation: A Field Experiment.
Authors: Wittels, Annabelle S. (AUTHOR)
Source: Political Behavior. Mar2026, Vol. 48 Issue 1, p517-539. 23p.
Subjects: Incentive (Psychology), Participation, Research protocols, Field research, Community involvement, Political participation, Behavioral economics
Abstract: Participation in non-electoral initiatives holds significance for good governance and democratic engagement, although they often encounter challenges like low involvement and the under-representation of disadvantaged groups. Insights from behavioral economics and psychology, commonly applied to electoral participation, offer potential strategies for boosting non-electoral engagement. This study seeks to investigate this area. It sets out a theoretical framework on how incentive frameworks of non-electoral participation differ from those of elections and what strategies could be designed to increase and diversify participation. It then puts this to the test empirically using a randomised field experiment with 29,008 households. It illustrates that rigorous testing of interventions is necessary to understand their impact across different democratic contexts: Contrary to what theory would predict for electoral contexts and paid-for work, all tested interventions significantly decrease participation in the governance initiative under study. Implications for further development of strategies targeting non-electoral participation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Political Behavior is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Participation in non-electoral initiatives holds significance for good governance and democratic engagement, although they often encounter challenges like low involvement and the under-representation of disadvantaged groups. Insights from behavioral economics and psychology, commonly applied to electoral participation, offer potential strategies for boosting non-electoral engagement. This study seeks to investigate this area. It sets out a theoretical framework on how incentive frameworks of non-electoral participation differ from those of elections and what strategies could be designed to increase and diversify participation. It then puts this to the test empirically using a randomised field experiment with 29,008 households. It illustrates that rigorous testing of interventions is necessary to understand their impact across different democratic contexts: Contrary to what theory would predict for electoral contexts and paid-for work, all tested interventions significantly decrease participation in the governance initiative under study. Implications for further development of strategies targeting non-electoral participation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Political Behavior is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1007/s11109-025-10040-8
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        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Participation
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              Text: Mar2026
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