Party bans, deterrence or backlash? Evidence from the Basque Country

This paper investigates the electoral effects of party bans, studying the case of the ban on Batasuna, the political wing of ETA. In an initial electoral term, in 2003, Batasuna was banned from contesting local elections in all Basque municipalities; in a second term, in 2007, it was banned only in...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Arenas Jal, Andreu
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/186293
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/186293
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Partits polítics
Eleccions
Persecucions polítiques
Censura
País Basc
Political parties
Elections
Political persecution
Censorship
Basque Country
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spelling Party bans, deterrence or backlash? Evidence from the Basque CountryArenas Jal, AndreuPartits políticsEleccionsPersecucions polítiquesCensuraPaís BascPolitical partiesElectionsPolitical persecutionCensorshipBasque CountryThis paper investigates the electoral effects of party bans, studying the case of the ban on Batasuna, the political wing of ETA. In an initial electoral term, in 2003, Batasuna was banned from contesting local elections in all Basque municipalities; in a second term, in 2007, it was banned only in a subset of them, and in 2011 it became legal again. Exploiting the finite and heterogeneous length of the ban across municipalities, I find that a longer ban has a negative effect on electoral support for the targeted party. This effect is explained by the extent of the immediate loss in support in treated municipalities under the 2007 ban, observable in this instance because Batasuna called for a null vote. This pattern and further heterogeneous effects are consistent with voters learning from the new electoral scenario rather than with a direct cost attributable to the party no longer having institutional representation. This suggests that party bans may be used by incumbents to reduce their challengers' strength by triggering an electoral reshuffling, with voters learning about new parties and potentially switching allegiances.Now Publishers2021info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2445/186293Articles publicats en revistes (Economia)reponame:Dipòsit Digital de la UBinstname:Universidad de BarcelonaInglésReproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1561/100.00018119Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 2021, vol. 16, num. 3, p. 325-358https://doi.org/10.1561/100.00018119(c) Now Publishers, 2021info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/1862932026-05-27T06:46:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Party bans, deterrence or backlash? Evidence from the Basque Country
title Party bans, deterrence or backlash? Evidence from the Basque Country
spellingShingle Party bans, deterrence or backlash? Evidence from the Basque Country
Arenas Jal, Andreu
Partits polítics
Eleccions
Persecucions polítiques
Censura
País Basc
Political parties
Elections
Political persecution
Censorship
Basque Country
title_short Party bans, deterrence or backlash? Evidence from the Basque Country
title_full Party bans, deterrence or backlash? Evidence from the Basque Country
title_fullStr Party bans, deterrence or backlash? Evidence from the Basque Country
title_full_unstemmed Party bans, deterrence or backlash? Evidence from the Basque Country
title_sort Party bans, deterrence or backlash? Evidence from the Basque Country
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Arenas Jal, Andreu
author Arenas Jal, Andreu
author_facet Arenas Jal, Andreu
author_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Partits polítics
Eleccions
Persecucions polítiques
Censura
País Basc
Political parties
Elections
Political persecution
Censorship
Basque Country
topic Partits polítics
Eleccions
Persecucions polítiques
Censura
País Basc
Political parties
Elections
Political persecution
Censorship
Basque Country
description This paper investigates the electoral effects of party bans, studying the case of the ban on Batasuna, the political wing of ETA. In an initial electoral term, in 2003, Batasuna was banned from contesting local elections in all Basque municipalities; in a second term, in 2007, it was banned only in a subset of them, and in 2011 it became legal again. Exploiting the finite and heterogeneous length of the ban across municipalities, I find that a longer ban has a negative effect on electoral support for the targeted party. This effect is explained by the extent of the immediate loss in support in treated municipalities under the 2007 ban, observable in this instance because Batasuna called for a null vote. This pattern and further heterogeneous effects are consistent with voters learning from the new electoral scenario rather than with a direct cost attributable to the party no longer having institutional representation. This suggests that party bans may be used by incumbents to reduce their challengers' strength by triggering an electoral reshuffling, with voters learning about new parties and potentially switching allegiances.
publishDate 2021
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2021
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/2445/186293
url https://hdl.handle.net/2445/186293
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Reproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1561/100.00018119
Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 2021, vol. 16, num. 3, p. 325-358
https://doi.org/10.1561/100.00018119
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv (c) Now Publishers, 2021
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv (c) Now Publishers, 2021
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Now Publishers
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Now Publishers
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Articles publicats en revistes (Economia)
reponame:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
instname:Universidad de Barcelona
instname_str Universidad de Barcelona
reponame_str Dipòsit Digital de la UB
collection Dipòsit Digital de la UB
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,301603

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