Original
Education and the Unequal Costs of Voting: Administrative Burdens and Democratic Participation
Abstract
ABSTRACT Administrative burdens are an inherent feature of citizen–state interactions, shaping who can access public programs and exercise fundamental rights. These burdens are not distributed evenly; instead, they tend to exacerbate inequality by imposing disproportionate costs on individuals with fewer resources or skills. Given that some administrative burdens exacerbate complexity, this paper investigates an understudied dimension upon which burdens may have disproportionate impacts: education. Using the case of U.S. elections, this paper explores how administrative burdens interact with education to shape democratic participation. Drawing on validated voter data from the Cooperative Election Study (2008–2024) linked with the Cost of Voting Index, I show that increases in the administrative complexity of voting disproportionately deter participation among individuals with less education. By highlighting education as a critical but understudied dimension of inequality in navigating burdens, this study demonstrates how the design of onerous public policies, such as election laws, can systematically advantage some citizens over others.
中文
教育与投票的不平等成本：行政负担与民主参与
摘要
摘要 行政负担是公民与国家互动中固有的特征，它决定了谁能够获得公共项目并行使基本权利。这些负担并非平均分配；相反，它们往往通过将不成比例的成本强加给资源或技能较少的个人而加剧不平等。鉴于某些行政负担会加剧复杂性，本文考察了一个尚未得到充分研究的、负担可能产生不成比例影响的维度：教育。本文以美国选举为案例，探讨行政负担如何与教育相互作用，从而塑造民主参与。基于合作选举研究（Cooperative Election Study，2008—2024年）中经过验证的选民数据，并将其与投票成本指数（Cost of Voting Index）相链接，我表明投票行政复杂性的增加会不成比例地抑制受教育程度较低者的参与。通过强调教育是理解如何应对负担时一个关键但研究不足的不平等维度，本研究表明，诸如选举法等繁重公共政策的设计能够系统性地使某些公民较其他公民更具优势。
关键词
行政负担、投票成本、教育、民主参与、选举法、美国选举、政治不平等、选举管理