Where everyone knows your name: A socio-rational theory of voter turnout in advanced industrial democracies

I explore the issue of political participation in comparative perspective and offer rational choice inspired theory of political behavior. Drawing on previously disparate social science literatures, I link political activities to an individual's socio-political environment by looking at one's community and embedded reputation in that space. Incorporating reputation into a rational choice conception of participation provides a framework for understanding mass and individual political behavior that avoids many traditional criticisms of rational choice and also squares with the empirical realities of turnout in the US and in Europe.;This project makes two potent interdisciplinary contributions---one substantive and the other methodological. First, by being able to explain the variance in international turnout and provide a dynamic explanation as to why a non-trivial amount of eligible voters are not casting votes when they have the right to do so, I can answer the fundamental questions of who participates and why. How and why political participation varies among countries is crucial in understanding the very structure of nations as acts of political participation shape the institutional arrangement and socio-economic policies through which virtually all aspects of a state's society function. As democratic governments are responsive to those who vote, an explanation for why some people turnout in particular circumstances and places may generate real insight into nearly all aspects of the socio-economic and political world---from understanding the nature of institutional structures to providing an account as to why inequality and welfare policies differ so greatly across countries. Second, my approach challenges the imperialism of economic theory and reminds scholars that in politics and in real human behavior, people are more than pure financial utility maximizers. I offer a unifying theoretical construct that modifies the dominant economic tradition, reveals its strengths and limitations, and shows how and why we need to move beyond this and look at real people, their social dynamics, socio-spatial environment, time-use, and social reputation. My approach bridges the wide gap in the social sciences between formal theorists and empiricists and those who are qualitative, anthropologically, historically, and sociologically informed who view social acts as more than economic exchanges.