Nijborg, Hendri (2021) Influence of municipal mergers on election outcomes. Bachelor thesis.
|
Text
EINDVERSIE THESIS (1).pdf Download (246kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Many municipalities have merged during the last few decades, which is the result of a massive shift in responsibilities to the lowest level of government in the Netherlands. Simultaneously, political parties on municipal level without national affiliations have slowly gained electoral ground and have become the largest party on average on the municipal level. This study aims to find out whether there is a relationship between the merging of municipalities and the electoral success of parties without national affiliations. Previous academic research finds that municipal mergers decrease voters trust in the local government, whilst people with less trust in the local government vote more often for parties without national affiliations. Therefore the following hypothesis will be tested: Municipal mergers have a positive effect on the electoral results of political parties without national affiliations. This hypothesis gets tested via three Difference in Difference (DiD) regression analyses, into which three types of municipalities are included, being: merged municipalities, municipalities that cancelled their merger plans and all ‘other’ Dutch municipalities. The data on these municipalities comes from the Databank verkiezingsuitslagen, the database of the Kiesraad. The results of the analysis do not support the hypothesis. Both plans for a municipal merger and the actual merger seem to decrease the percentage of votes parties without national affiliations get. However, the models are not significant, which could be the result of the somewhat limited sample size or the absence of control variables.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
|---|---|
| Degree programme: | Human Geography and Planning |
| Supervisor: | Jong, D.M.O. |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Jul 2022 07:47 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Jul 2022 07:47 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3904 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |