In recent years, voter ID laws and convenience voting have generated heated partisan debates. To shed light on these policy issues, we survey the recent evidence on the institutional determinants and effects of voter turnout and broaden the perspective beyond the most debated rules. We begin by...

We use evidence from the Second Reform Act, introduced in the United Kingdom in 1867, to analyze the impact on electoral outcomes of extending the vote to the unskilled urban population. By exploiting the sharp change in the electorate caused by franchise extension, we separate the effect of...

1. Reform and revolution, 1848-1852 -- 2. Peelites, protectionists and popular Toryism -- 3. The coalition and the Crimea, 1852-1855 -- 4. Grasping the nettle : the reform bills of 1859 and 1860 -- 5. Democracy in practice : France and America -- 6. 'The liberal dilemma' -- 7. The liberal...