Abstract
Most theories of voter behavior predict that electoral participation will be higher in elections where more is at stake. We test this prediction by studying how participation is a ected by exogenous variation in local governments' financial exibility to provide pork for their voters. Utilizing simultaneous elections for di erent of- ces, we identify a positive e ect of election stakes on participation: Higher stakes at the local level increase participation at the local relative to the regional election. Survey evidence indicates that the underlying mechanism relates to citizens' acquisition of information.