Voting turnout and population health status in the OECD countries: the role of healthcare systems

Despite ample evidence on individual-level relationship between voting behaviors and health conditions, the country-level bidirectional association between political participation and health outcome remain uncertain. We used simultaneous equation methods to explore the bidirectional connection between self-reported health status and voting turnout among 36 OECD countries. The results confirmed that health condition promotes voting turnout and a higher voting rate also stimulates health status, even at the country level. Our approach could provide a framework for understanding a recursive interrelationship between the aggregated health and political indicators, highlighting the roles of country-level institutional and cultural determinants.