Age and Turnout Among the Newly Enfranchised: Life Cycle versus Experience Effects

Through comparison of the relationship between age and voter turnout in new and established electorates, this article tests life cycle versus experience-related explanations of political participation. The relationship between age and turnout for the newly enfranchised should resemble that for the previously enfranchised if life cycle forces dominate: turnout increasing with age until peaking in the middle years, then declining with old age. If experience with the vote dominates, the relationship of age to turnout should differ: with new electorates there should be a much smaller difference between the turnout of the young and the middle-aged, peak turnout should occur at an earlier age than for established electorates, drop-off among the elderly should be especially steep, and such differences between the electorates should decline over time after enfranchisement. The evidence examined for new electorates -data spanning 18 national elections in eight countries - shows that the same relationship between age and turnout characterizes new and established electorates. Lack of experience with the vote, or resistance to acquiring new attitudes and behaviour, does not seem to alter appreciably the relationship of age to turnout in new electorates. Implications of this finding for the development of democratic participation and socialization theories of adult change are considered.