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There Is Something in the Water: The Effects of a Bad Government on Voter Turnout

Author

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  • Lopez Santiago
Abstract
In April, 2014 the residents of Flint City, Michigan, U.S.A, saw their everyday water supply switched from the Lake Huron, 70 miles away, to the local Flint River, a result of the city’s and the State’s efforts to reduce Flint's fiscal deficit and achieve fiscal stability. However, this proved to be a highly questionable decision as the waters of Flint River were highly polluted and were not treated accordingly. Thus, when this untreated water began flowing into the city and circulated through an aging infrastructure, extremely high concentrations of lead and pernicious bacteria formed and households and businesses began to consume contaminated water which could provoke severe health hazards with both short and long term impacts. I leverage this unique natural experiment, which offers a clear-cut instance of a poor Administration regardless of political subjectivity, to assess whether the residents of Flint City, in the midst of an unprecedented crisis, were more or less willing to participate in the democratic process. Using an event study differences-in-differences estimator, I then find evidence of a sizeable decrease in voter turnout (25% percent on average in the 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 elections) in Flint City since the start of the Crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Lopez Santiago, 2023. "There Is Something in the Water: The Effects of a Bad Government on Voter Turnout," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4664, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    • Handle: RePEc:aep:anales:4664
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Dreyer Lassen, 2005. "The Effect of Information on Voter Turnout: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(1), pages 103-118, January.
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    3. Elena Costas-Pérez, 2014. "Political corruption and voter turnout: mobilization or disaffection?," Working Papers 2014/27, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    4. repec:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2017.303692_1 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Sadler, R.C. & LaChance, J. & Hanna-Attisha, M., 2017. "Social and built environmental correlates of predicted blood lead levels in the flint water crisis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 107(5), pages 763-769.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • P00 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - General - - - General
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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