Income Inequality and Voter Fractionalisation: an Empirical Study of 16 Multi-Party European Democracies

Abstract

This article empirically investigates relationships between voter fractionalisation and economic inequality, measured by the Gini coefficient of income inequality and a new index of fractionalisation developed for this study. Our main findings are as follows. States with high income inequality have less voter fractionalisation. States with higher GDP per capita have more voter fractionalisation. States with high election thresholds for parliamentary representation have less voter fractionalisation. Eastern European states and states with high unemployment rates have more voter fractionalisation. States with greater ethnic fractionalisation have less voter fractionalisation. Fractionalisation has been greater in recent decades (2000s and 1990s) than earlier decades (1980s).