Authors:	Leininger, Arndt Sohnius, Marie-Lou Faas, Thorsten Roßteutscher, Sigrid Schäfer, Armin
Title:	Temporary Disenfranchisement: Negative Side Effects of Lowering the Voting Age
Online publication date:	31-Aug-2023
Year of first publication:	2023
Language:	english
Abstract:	How does losing one’s right to vote again after having been eligible to vote before affect political fundamentals such as political efficacy? We draw attention to the hitherto neglected phenomenon “temporary disenfranchisement,” which, for instance, occurs regularly in states that extended the franchise to underage citizens in some but not all elections. If an election with voting age 16 is closely followed by an election with voting age 18, underage voters who are eligible for the former will have no right to vote in the latter. Using original panel data on young citizens in Germany and a differences-in- differences design, we find that temporary disenfranchisement results in a decrease in external efficacy, which remains even after regaining eligibility. Our findings highlight an important side effect of selective voting rights extensions and bear insights that are relevant to other cases of temporary disenfranchisement due to residential mobility, citizenship, or felony disenfranchisement.
DDC:	300 Sozialwissenschaften 300 Social sciences 320 Politik 320 Political science
Institution:	Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Department:	FB 02 Sozialwiss., Medien u. Sport
Place:	Mainz
ROR:	https://ror.org/023b0x485
DOI:	http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-9498
Version:	Published version
Publication type:	Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Document type specification:	Scientific article
License:	CC BY
Information on rights of use:	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Journal:	American Political Science Review 117 1
Pages or article number:	355 361
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publisher place:	Cambridge
Issue date:	2023
ISSN:	1537-5943
Publisher DOI:	10.1017/S000305542200034X
Appears in collections:	DFG-491381577-H