Political competition and electoral participation: Is there any linkage?

This paper analyzed empirically, in the case of 40 countries, the biunivoque relationship between political competition and electoral participation. The analysis was based on the construction of an unrestricted Vector Autoregressive Model (unrestricted VAR). The validity of the model was checked by using a series of tests, such as: Panel Unit Root Test (in order to verify the stationarity of the series), Pairwise Granger Causality Test, VAR Lag Order Selection Criteria, VAR Residual Portmanteau Test, VAR Residual Serial Correlation LM Test, and VAR Residual Normality Test. The results revealed an interesting fact: voters are discouraged from exercising their fundamental right, the right to vote, as political competition becomes more pronounced, while political competition is stimulated as electoral participation becomes more consistent.