Mobilität,Wahlbeteiligung und Sozialkapital in Schweizer Gemeinden

This paper investigates the relationship between mobility and voting behavior at different spatial levels. To this end, voter turnout in local municipality issues is compared to that in national matters. We find that the difference between local and national turnout strongly correlates with the mobility of a municipality's population. An explanation for the observed negative relationship is that social networks and the sense of duty towards the local community are weaker in municipalities where people are more mobile. In addition to this core result, it is discussed how mobility affects turnout at the local and national level separately, and it is shown how the different measures might be used as proxies for local social capital in a municipality.