Description:

Please join the Comparative Politics Workshop as they host Andrew Saab, a current PhD candidate in the Political Science Department at Northwestern University.

Abstract: This study investigates the effect of information spillovers from lower levels of government to upper levels of government on outcomes of elections with dual-ballot plurality rules. In Brazilian local elections, city council elections (lower level) and mayoral elections (upper level) are held simultaneously. Mayoral elections that require a runoff must be held within 20 days of the first-round election results. Therefore, city council election results are known when voters cast their ballot in the runoff, information that is not known in the first round. Compared to the first round, parties that perform better in city council elections face a loss in vote share in mayoral runoff elections as a consequence. This suggests that voters of losing parties in the first round seek to moderate the presence of more highly supported parties in the city council by voting for the opposing party in the runoff of the mayoral election. The possibility that this effect is due to changes in the composition of the electorate is rejected as turnout has remained relatively unchanged across election rounds and overall turnout is generally high. Moreover, the reported effects are stronger when the local electorate is less polarized, which supports the notion that the result is due to a preference for moderation.