Susan C. Stokes

Stokes will write a book investigating what compels people to participate in elections. She argues that the subjective cost of abstention—or how much a person feels he or she will lose by not voting—can explain why people turn out at higher rates when the office to be filled is elevated. Stokes will also explore how this theory of abstention may shed new insight on why low-income populations vote at lower rates than more affluent populations.