Who Votes in Authoritarian Elections and Why? Determinants of Voter Turnout in Contemporary Egypt

Abstract

This paper examines voter behavior in Egypt, an electoral authoritarian country. While some voters cast their ballots on an ideological basis, many Egyptian voters expect to receive a direct material beneflt for their vote. Although voter turnout is associated with higher levels of education in developed democracies, I flnd that in Egypt, illiterates are twice as likely to vote as those who can read. This is because the votes of illiterates tend to be cheaper to purchase by political entrepreneurs, and illiterates are also more vulnerable to intimidation by state authorities. These flndings have implications for our understanding of clientelistic politics, electoral authoritarianism, and accountability in autocratic regimes.

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