Partner Politics: How Partners Are Relevant to Voting

Objective: The authors study how partners are relevant to voting. Background: Previous studies have assessed whether having a partner influences political participation. The authors focus on how having a partner may affect political participation in different ways. The authors theorize and analytically disentangle three mechanisms through which partners relate to voting. Method: The authors analyze the most recent wave of the European Social Survey and limit the analyses to people in a heterosexual relationship who cohabit with their partner (n = 23,373). In contrast to previous studies, the authors use Diagonal Reference Models, which allow them to disentangle the different ways in which partners affect voting. Results: The authors find that both the educational level of the respondents and that of their partners positively affect voting. In addition, the relative position of a person in an educationally heterogamous relationship proves to be related to voting: Citizens whose level of education is lower than that of their partner are less likely to vote than people who have the same level of education but who are in an educationally homogamous relationship. Conclusion: The authors argue that the lowest educated partner in a heterogamous relationship experiences a lower sense of entitlement to participate politically. This study increases the understanding of voting and underlines the political relevance of the family.

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