Increased polarization in politics reduces voter turnout

As the government shutdown in October showed, the U.S. is currently in a period of deep political division. Using data collected from in dozens of U.S. Senate races between 1996 and 2006, and 50 U.S. House races in 2006, Jon Rogowski examines the effect of this partisan polarization on electoral behaviors. His results suggest that increasing policy differences between candidates significantly reduces voter turnout, particularly among citizens with lower levels of education and political knowledge.