Terveyden vaikutus äänestämiseen Suomessa ja Euroopassa : kaltaistamismenetelmien käyttö äänestystutkimuksissa

Kirjoittajat

• Mikko Mattila

Abstrakti

This study analyses the effect of individuals’ self-assessed health on their likelihood of turning out in parliamentary elections in Finland and in Europe. An examination of previous studies in the field of politics and health shows that the field is still very patchy, diffuse and undertheorized. Because of the wide variation in research designs, data and methodological choices the existing studies cannot provide for a solid understanding of the relationship between health and political behavior. This article proposes that matching methods could be a partial solution for the methodological problems affecting the field. In the empirical section, the magnitude of the effect of poor health on voting propensity is calculated with traditional multivariate methods and matching methods. The results show that traditional methods over-estimate the size of the effect but only slightly. In all, the results show that voting is hampered by health problems both in Finland and wider in Europe.