Affiliation:
1. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Abstract
Due to questions concerning the historical application of the economic theory of voting to the bureau voting model, this study takes a longitudinal look at the relationship between government employment and voter turnout in the United States. Probit and OLS models are used to examine data from the American National Election Study covering sixteen elections from 1982 to 2012. Contrary to previous findings, government employment is not shown to have an effect on voter turnout. These results suggest that the bureau voting model may need to be refined if it is to be used in future studies.