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Comparing Two Measures of Electoral Integrity in the American States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Patrick Flavin  and
Gregory Shufeldt
Patrick Flavin
Affiliation:
Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA
Gregory Shufeldt*
Affiliation:
Butler University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
*
Gregory Shufeldt, Department of Political Science, Butler University, 4600 Sunset Avenue, 347 Jordan Hall, Indianapolis, IN 46208, USA. Email: gshufeld@butler.edu
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Abstract

We compare two widely publicized measures of state electoral integrity in the United States: the Electoral Integrity Project's 2016 U.S. Perceptions of Electoral Integrity Survey and the Pew 2014 Elections Performance Index. First, we review the theoretical and empirical differences between the two measures and find that they correlate at a surprisingly low level across the states. Second, given this low correlation, we examine the component parts of these indices and find that both are capturing multiple dimensions. Third, we examine how the components and the individual indicators that comprise each measure are linked to citizens' stated perceptions about electoral integrity. Throughout the article, we articulate a set of preemptive recommendations that urge researchers to be cautious and deliberate when choosing among measures of electoral integrity to use in future empirical studies.

Keywords

U.S. state politicselectoral integrityelection administrationpublic opinion
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 83 - 100
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018

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