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Legislative Term Limits and Voter Turnout

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Robynn Kuhlmann  and
Daniel C. Lewis
Robynn Kuhlmann
Affiliation:
University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO, USA
Daniel C. Lewis*
Affiliation:
Siena College, Loudonville, NY, USA
*
Daniel C. Lewis, Siena College, 515 Loudon Rd., Loudonville, NY 12211-1462, USA. Email: dlewis@siena.edu
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Abstract

According to reformers, legislative term limits should increase voter turnout by enhancing electoral competitiveness for legislative seats. However, this claim has been largely untested. The only existing study of the effect of legislative term limits on voter turnout, to date, finds that turnout in California did not increase after the imposition of term limits and may have decreased turnout. Yet, it is unclear whether this result generalizes to other states. This study employs a comparative state analysis of both aggregate turnout and district-level turnout rates in state legislative elections. We find that term limits significantly increase voting rates in state legislative elections.

Keywords

term limitslegislative politicspolitical participationpolitical behaviorelectionslegislative electionsvoting behavior
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , December 2017 , pp. 372 - 392
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2017

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