Explaining the divide: relative deprivation and turnout in Norwegian elections

Although voting is essential for legitimising democratic decision-making, significant inequalities in turnout persist across socioeconomic groups. This paper examines the role of relative deprivation in explaining the turnout gap. Utilising administrative data, it offers a unique perspective by studying how relative income position in the local neighbourhood influences participation. The analyses compare outcomes for the same individual over time, where relative deprivation is defined as a negative distance between an individual’s income and the median income in their neighbourhood. The results suggest that individuals who become financially worse off compared to their neighbours tend to be significantly less likely to vote, and that the effect is more pronounced among those with lower income and education levels. Additional tests indicate that the strength of the relationship depends on neighbourhood economic inequality and is more pronounced where inequality is high. To supplement the main findings, survey data from the Norwegian National Election Studies are used to provide exploratory evaluations of the mechanisms at play. The causal mediation analyses provide some indication that relative deprivation is associated with reduced internal political efficacy and political interest, which in turn may suppress participation. Overall, the study highlights the importance of considering voters’ relative income position in combination with local inequality to better understand variations in voter turnout.