496/2020 Claudia Rei

How did historical state and church presence help shape country identity? This paper shows that Portuguese municipalities with more postmen and priests in the 19^th century have higher voter turnout in any election today. More postmen (priests) in the 19^thcentury however, are associated with lower (higher) turnout in local elections when compared to national elections denoting a stronger sense of national identity (local community). These relationships are robust to geographic and socioeconomic characteristics that could potentially affect voter turnout, suggesting the importance of historical persistence.

Economic History