Measuring the civic duty to vote: A proposal. (March 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Blais, André; Galais, Carol
• Is Part Of: Electoral studies. Volume 41(2016:Mar.)
• Page Start: 60
• Page End: 69
• Publication Date: 2016-03
• Subjects: Duty -- Turnout -- Measurement -- Attitudinal dimension -- CFA; Elections -- Periodicals; Voting -- Periodicals; 324.6
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electstud.2015.11.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0261-3794

Abstract

Abstract: Civic duty is a central concept in the study of turnout, yet little attention has been paid to how it should be measured. After a careful review of previous measures we constructed an original battery of 13 questions that were administered in a survey conducted in seven countries at the time of the 2014 European election. We show that the battery indeed taps the duty construct. We then propose a reduced battery of four questions. We show that the four questions achieve good fit measures and pass several tests of robustness and validity across the seven countries. We invite researchers to implement this battery in future research. Highlights: In spite of its popularity, the concept of the "duty to vote" remains fuzzy. Little to none attention has been paid to how it should be measured. We hope to fill that gap proposing 13 questions designed to tap the D term. We test that the questions indeed measure the Duty construct and predict turnout. A shorter list of questions is also successfully tested.