ABSTRACT
Introduction: Contextualizing voting behaviour and turnout The reasons for low electoral turnout can be broadly categorized into social (social exclusion, alienation), social/administrative (political institutions, structures and political mobilization) and administrative (voter facilitation). While evaluating ways of increasing electoral participation has been much discussed (Miller, 1988; Rallings and Thrasher, 1990, 1994, 1997; Rallings et al., 1996; Rallings et al., 1994), little of this work has yet fully taken on the embeddedness of the participatory process, social and administrative, posited by Agnew (1987, 1996) and demonstrated by Schuman (1999). Generally overlooked in most voting studies is the influence of local factors on political attitudes and voting decisions.
