Expressive voting: the desire of voters to boo parties they dislike has become an important predictor of turnout

Javier Rivas and James Rockey explain how voters’ desire to boo for candidates they dislike, rather than cheer for candidates they do like, has been increasingly important at recent elections. They also find that the importance of booing is greater amongst the least well-off voters, which helps explain the success of extremist ideas in the UK and Europe since the 2008 financial crisis.