COVID‐19 lockdown policy and national elections: A quasi‐experimental analysis of Ghana's 2020 Election

Q2 Social Sciences International Social Science Journal Pub Date : 2023-04-17 DOI:10.1111/issj.12418

Rebecca Nana Yaa Ayifah, Emmanuel Ayifah

{"title":"COVID‐19 lockdown policy and national elections: A quasi‐experimental analysis of Ghana's 2020 Election","authors":"Rebecca Nana Yaa Ayifah, Emmanuel Ayifah","doi":"10.1111/issj.12418","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly had a significant adverse effect on world democracies, especially elections scheduled in 2020. Per constitutional requirements, Ghana's presidential and parliamentary elections were held on 7 December 2020. Using longitudinal national election data, we investigate the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown policy on the number of registered voters, voter turnout and vote shares of the incumbent and main opposition parties. We took advantage of the partial lockdown that was imposed in some parts of the country and employed the difference-in-difference quasi-experimental method. The results show that the COVID-19 lockdown had a positive effect on the number of registered voters and a negative effect on voter turnout. In addition, we did not find any incumbency advantage or disadvantage resulting from the COVID-19 lockdown but the COVID-19 lockdown had a positive effect on the vote share of the opposition party. These results suggest the need for other voting methods such as early voting, increasing the number of polling stations/voting centres, electronic voting and vote-by-mail which involve lesser social interaction and hence may encourage electoral participation during health pandemics. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.","PeriodicalId":35727,"journal":{"name":"International Social Science Journal","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Social Science Journal","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/issj.12418","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly had a significant adverse effect on world democracies, especially elections scheduled in 2020. Per constitutional requirements, Ghana's presidential and parliamentary elections were held on 7 December 2020. Using longitudinal national election data, we investigate the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown policy on the number of registered voters, voter turnout and vote shares of the incumbent and main opposition parties. We took advantage of the partial lockdown that was imposed in some parts of the country and employed the difference-in-difference quasi-experimental method. The results show that the COVID-19 lockdown had a positive effect on the number of registered voters and a negative effect on voter turnout. In addition, we did not find any incumbency advantage or disadvantage resulting from the COVID-19 lockdown but the COVID-19 lockdown had a positive effect on the vote share of the opposition party. These results suggest the need for other voting methods such as early voting, increasing the number of polling stations/voting centres, electronic voting and vote-by-mail which involve lesser social interaction and hence may encourage electoral participation during health pandemics. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

查看原文

微信好友朋友圈 QQ好友复制链接

本刊更多论文

COVID - 19封锁政策和全国选举:对加纳2020年选举的准实验分析

COVID-19大流行无疑对世界民主国家产生了重大不利影响，特别是计划于2020年举行的选举。根据宪法要求，加纳总统和议会选举于2020年12月7日举行。利用全国纵向选举数据，我们研究了COVID-19封锁政策对登记选民人数、选民投票率以及现任和主要反对党的选票份额的影响。我们利用部分地区实行部分封锁的机会，采用了差分准实验方法。结果显示，新冠肺炎疫情封锁对登记选民人数产生了积极影响，对选民投票率产生了消极影响。此外，我们没有发现新冠肺炎封锁导致在任者的优势或劣势，但新冠肺炎封锁对在野党的选票份额产生了积极影响。这些结果表明，需要采用其他投票方法，如提前投票、增加投票站/投票中心的数量、电子投票和邮寄投票，这些方法涉及较少的社会互动，因此可能鼓励在卫生大流行期间参加选举。©2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文去求助

来源期刊

International Social Science Journal Social Sciences-Social Sciences (all)

CiteScore

1.90

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The International Social Science Journal bridges social science communities across disciplines and continents with a view to sharing information and debate with the widest possible audience. The ISSJ has a particular focus on interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary work that pushes the boundaries of current approaches, and welcomes both applied and theoretical research. Originally founded by UNESCO in 1949, ISSJ has since grown into a forum for innovative review, reflection and discussion informed by recent and ongoing international, social science research. It provides a home for work that asks questions in new ways and/or employs original methods to classic problems and whose insights have implications across the disciplines and beyond the academy. The journal publishes regular editions featuring rigorous, peer-reviewed research articles that reflect its international and heterodox scope.