Browsing by Author "Stockemer, Daniel"

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Can institutions pave the way for the young? Electoral systems and age representation in parliament
(2016-01) Stockemer, Daniel; Sundström, Aksel; QoG Institute
Middle-aged to senior men of the ethnic majority and higher income groups are generally overrepresented in parliaments. While research on group representation has examined issues of gender, economic standing and, more recently, ethnicity, few studies examine age groups. We argue that the design of political institutions influences the average age of parliamentarians across nations and suggest that, compared to majoritarian systems, PR systems should grant younger politicians entry. Analyzing an original dataset we corroborate this argument in a global cross-national sample. After controlling for a range of potential explanatory factors, we find that PR systems produce, on average, a parliament with younger representatives.
Introducing the Worldwide Age Representation in Parliaments (WARP) Dataset
(2022-04) Daniel Stockemer; Stockemer, Daniel; Sundström, Aksel; The Quality of Government Institute
Research increasingly highlights the social group composition of decision-making bodies in politics. Beyond issues of gender and ethnicity, an emerging literature focuses on age groups. The absence of young adults in elected legislative assemblies is a democratic deficit with potentially severe repercussions. Yet, research is rarely able to address the issue of age group representation systematically, because we are lacking empirical information on the age distribution in parliaments. The Worldwide Age Representation in Parliaments (WARP) dataset remedies this dearth of data. It provides information about the numerical presence of age groups in parliaments, spanning across the globe and over time. It includes age data on legislators, such as the share of young or older Members of Parliament (MPs). The dataset also reports measures that compare the presence of a certain age group of legislators in relation to the same age group in the general population of a given country. Moreover, it includes gendered figures, such as the presence of young female MPs. The WARP dataset contains data for more than 700 elections in 149 countries and is freely available. It allows for a novel type of analyzes, that makes use of the age composition of legislatures.
Quality of Government Affect Voter Turnout in the European Regions
(2013-03) Sundström, Aksel; Stockemer, Daniel; QoG Institute
While much of the literature on voter turnout focuses on institutional and socioeconomic factors related to the “input” side of the political process, we examine the “output” side of the political process – and advance this field of research by studying the impact of corruption on turnout in the most recent national legislative elections across 172 European regions. Using data from a novel measure of regional quality of government – gauging the quality, impartiality and corruption in government services – and several control variables at the regional and national levels, we find through multi-level modeling that regional quality of government positively impacts regional turnout. In more detail, our results indicate that citizens’ perceptions of the government as partial and corrupt make them, in the aggregate, less likely to cast a ballot.
When Elders Rule: Age Composition in DecisionMaking and Legitimacy Perceptions
(2024-09) Sundström, Aksel; McClean, Charles T.; Stockemer, Daniel; The Quality of Government Institute (QoG)
How does the predominance of older people in decision-making bodies influence citizens’ evaluations of their legitimacy? Through a survey experiment in the US, we vary the age composition of a bipartisan state legislative committee and its policy decisions. We find that citizens view the committee and its decisions as more legitimate if it has a balanced age composition, rather than consisting only of older members. The presence of younger members improves perceptions of procedural fairness, regardless of the decision reached, and can even legitimize decisions that go against youth interests. Additionally, age diversity enhances perceived legitimacy more for younger people than for older people, and for Democrats compared to Republicans. Our study suggests that greater youth representation in the decision-making process can bolster public trust in democratic institutions to produce more equitable outcomes.