Voter turnout and the size of government

- I study the causal link between voter turnout and policy.
- A reform in Sweden is used as an instrument for voter turnout.
- Low income earners began to vote after the reform.
- Increased voter turnout resulted in higher taxes and larger public expenditures.
- Increased voter turnout also decreases support for the right-wing block.

This paper uses Swedish and Finnish municipal data to investigate the effect of changes in voter turnout on the tax rate, public spending and vote-shares. A reform in Sweden in 1970, which overall lowered the cost of voting, is applied as an instrument for voter turnout in local elections. The reform increased voter turnout in Sweden. The higher voter turnout resulted in higher municipal taxes and greater per capita local public spending. There are also indications that higher turnout decreased the vote share for right-wing parties. I use an individual survey data set to conclude that it was in particular low income earners that began to vote to a greater extent after the reform.