How electoral rules matter: voter turnout in Morocco's 2007 parliamentary elections

In 2007, Morocco held parliamentary elections in which voter turnout plunged to a historic low of 37%. Since then, most analyses have attributed the poor showing to popular dissatisfaction with the political establishment despite the fact that the monarchy has initiated a number of political reforms in recent years to promote greater competition in the political system. What factors account then for declining participation in the context of political liberalisation, which ostensibly should foster increased participation? This article explores the relationship between Morocco's electoral system and declining rates of turnout. In particular, I claim that Morocco's peculiar variation of proportional representation produces certain psychological effects on parties' calculus of mobilisation and citizens' calculus of participation. A regression analysis based on official election results confirms that characteristics of the electoral districts within which Moroccan citizens reside affected their predispositions to cast votes in last year's elections. This article concludes by discussing the implications of the low turnout for democracy promotion efforts in Morocco.