The Impact of the Australian Ballot on Quality Challenger Entry Decisions.

Beginning in 1888, the American states rapidly adopted the Australian ballot. This change revolutionized American elections, ending party ballots, and producing greater accountability for individual politicians. Compared to the previous strategic environment, the advent of the Australian ballot released politicians from homogenized party labels and providing incentives for district service and a personal voteâ??or, at least, that is the standard story. Carson and Roberts (2007) challenge this view, instead asserting the pre-secret ballot party system provided incentives for political careerists that yielded greater numbers of quality challengers. Our paper suggests quality challengers who can differentiate themselves from their party are in the best position to effectively challenge a seat; this can only be achieved under an Australian ballot system. We argue the Australian ballot increased incentives for quality challengers and produced changes more closely aligned with the traditional interpretation of events. We test our theory using a state-by-state analysis which we think can more fully account for the observed changes produced by the adoption of the secret ballot. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]