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Class-Biased Electoral Participation: The Youth Vote in Chile

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Alejandro Corvalan  and
Paulo Cox
Alejandro Corvalan
Affiliation:
Universidad Diego Portales. alejandro.corvalan@udp.cl
Paulo Cox
Affiliation:
Banco Central de Chile. pcox@bcentral.cl
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Abstract

There is no other country where the division between the old and young electorate is as striking as in Chile. For older voters, turnout exceeded, on average, 90 percent in 2009; for those aged less than 30, it fell below 30 percent. Using individual survey data from 2006, 2008, and 2010, this article studies the current socioeconomic composition of the Chilean young electorate. First, it shows that the young electorate is class-biased. Income is highly correlated with both registration and turnout even after controlling for education. Second, it presents evidence that class bias for the whole electorate has been increasing over time, due to generational replacement. The results are not promising for Chile’s democracy in the years to come, since equal participation is worsening over time.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 55 , Issue 3 , Fall 2013 , pp. 47 - 68
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2013

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