{"id":{"repo_id":"ku","oai_identifier":"oai:kuscholarworks.ku.edu:1808/37550"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/ku/oai:kuscholarworks.ku.edu:1808/37550","repository":{"repo_id":"ku","name":"University of Kansas","base_url":"https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"District Magnitude the Tie that Binds: A Comparative Analysis of Political Behavior","abstract":"Modern democracies rely on elections to select representatives to serve the people in the day to day functions of government. Unfortunately, there is not a consensus in electoral research regarding the optimum electoral institutions. This dissertation considers some of the ways in which district magnitude, the number of elected officials that serve a district, impacts the relationship between voters and elected officials. Through application of the principal-agent model, I argue that mid-size magnitudes are small enough to limit the number of representatives that serve a district which helps to make elected officials identifiable for their service and ultimately creates closer constituent relations; yet at the same time, they are large enough to enable more parties to participate in elections which creates greater ideological diversity. Through the use of survey data from 27 countries district magnitude is studied as it impacts political efficacy, political participation, satisfaction with government. A case study of Brazil is used to analyze how district magnitude impacts voting behavior and legislative careerism in an open-list proportional system. Results provide some support for the idea that mid-sized district magnitudes, somewhere between sizes of three and eight, best serve voter's desire for both ideological diversity and close connections to their elected officials.","abstract_html":"Modern democracies rely on elections to select representatives to serve the people in the day to day functions of government. Unfortunately, there is not a consensus in electoral research regarding the optimum electoral institutions. This dissertation considers some of the ways in which district magnitude, the number of elected officials that serve a district, impacts the relationship between voters and elected officials. Through application of the principal-agent model, I argue that mid-size magnitudes are small enough to limit the number of representatives that serve a district which helps to make elected officials identifiable for their service and ultimately creates closer constituent relations; yet at the same time, they are large enough to enable more parties to participate in elections which creates greater ideological diversity. Through the use of survey data from 27 countries district magnitude is studied as it impacts political efficacy, political participation, satisfaction with government. A case study of Brazil is used to analyze how district magnitude impacts voting behavior and legislative careerism in an open-list proportional system. Results provide some support for the idea that mid-sized district magnitudes, somewhere between sizes of three and eight, best serve voter's desire for both ideological diversity and close connections to their elected officials.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Moddelmog, Linsey Ann"],"institution":"University of Kansas","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Reich, Gary M"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01","date_published":"2012-01-01","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:44:44Z","subjects":["Political Science","Brazil","District Magnitude","Electoral Systems","Government Satisfaction","Political Participation","Proportional Elections"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright held by the author."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["http://dissertations.umi.com/ku:12436"],"render_values":[{"text":"http://dissertations.umi.com/ku:12436","href":"http://dissertations.umi.com/ku:12436","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1808/37550","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Reich, Gary M"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Moddelmog, Linsey Ann"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2026-04-15T15:02:56Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2026-04-15T15:02:56Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2012-01-01"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["University of Kansas"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Political Science","Brazil","District Magnitude","Electoral Systems","Government Satisfaction","Political Participation","Proportional Elections"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright held by the author."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["http://dissertations.umi.com/ku:12436"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/1808/37550"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Modern democracies rely on elections to select representatives to serve the people in the day to day functions of government. Unfortunately, there is not a consensus in electoral research regarding the optimum electoral institutions. This dissertation considers some of the ways in which district magnitude, the number of elected officials that serve a district, impacts the relationship between voters and elected officials. Through application of the principal-agent model, I argue that mid-size magnitudes are small enough to limit the number of representatives that serve a district which helps to make elected officials identifiable for their service and ultimately creates closer constituent relations; yet at the same time, they are large enough to enable more parties to participate in elections which creates greater ideological diversity. Through the use of survey data from 27 countries district magnitude is studied as it impacts political efficacy, political participation, satisfaction with government. A case study of Brazil is used to analyze how district magnitude impacts voting behavior and legislative careerism in an open-list proportional system. Results provide some support for the idea that mid-sized district magnitudes, somewhere between sizes of three and eight, best serve voter's desire for both ideological diversity and close connections to their elected officials."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["District Magnitude the Tie that Binds: A Comparative Analysis of Political Behavior"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Reich, Gary M"],"dc:creator":["Moddelmog, Linsey Ann"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2026-04-15T15:02:56Z"],"dc:date.available":["2026-04-15T15:02:56Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2012-01-01"],"dc:description.abstract":["Modern democracies rely on elections to select representatives to serve the people in the day to day functions of government. Unfortunately, there is not a consensus in electoral research regarding the optimum electoral institutions. This dissertation considers some of the ways in which district magnitude, the number of elected officials that serve a district, impacts the relationship between voters and elected officials. Through application of the principal-agent model, I argue that mid-size magnitudes are small enough to limit the number of representatives that serve a district which helps to make elected officials identifiable for their service and ultimately creates closer constituent relations; yet at the same time, they are large enough to enable more parties to participate in elections which creates greater ideological diversity. Through the use of survey data from 27 countries district magnitude is studied as it impacts political efficacy, political participation, satisfaction with government. A case study of Brazil is used to analyze how district magnitude impacts voting behavior and legislative careerism in an open-list proportional system. Results provide some support for the idea that mid-sized district magnitudes, somewhere between sizes of three and eight, best serve voter's desire for both ideological diversity and close connections to their elected officials."],"dc:identifier.other":["http://dissertations.umi.com/ku:12436"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1808/37550"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:publisher":["University of Kansas"],"dc:rights":["Copyright held by the author."],"dc:subject":["Political Science","Brazil","District Magnitude","Electoral Systems","Government Satisfaction","Political Participation","Proportional Elections"],"dc:title":["District Magnitude the Tie that Binds: A Comparative Analysis of Political Behavior"],"dc:type":["Dissertation"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:44:44Z"}