UW Madison Study Comparing Elected and Appointed Town Clerks

Here's a study conducted by UW Madison that compares elected and appointed Town Clerks in Wisconsin and their impact on Policy Preferences and Administrative outcomes.

http://users.polisci.wisc.edu/apw/archives/burden%20et%20al%20032010.pdf

From the study:

"The results indicate that elected officials are more in favor of policies that are thought to promote turnout than appointed officials, that their jurisdictions are associated with higher voter turnout, and that their jurisdictions have lower voter purge rates."

[snip]

"These results are consistent with the notion that elected officials are more responsive to the preferences of the electorate than appointed officials, as the electorate generally favors policies that reduce the cost to voting. Appointed officials, who serve as the pleasure of local municipal officials, are concerned less with voter rights and turnout and more with administrative burdens, costs, and security."

[snip]

"The findings on partisan mismatch provide some evidence that elected officials may administer elections in a less politically motivated fashion. While elected officials also appear to generate higher turnout, and purge fewer voters, we are cautious in inferring that elected officials are simply better election officials."

[snip]

"Appointed clerks are more likely to have greater skills and expertise, according to our descriptive statistics, which show that appointed officials are better educated, have greater experience, and are more often full-time professionals."

[snip]

"These caveats aside, the case of Wisconsin shows elected officials who appear to be more attuned to responding to citizen desires relative to their appointed counterparts. While having insulation from political pressures has benefits, it may also make administrators less concerned with the wishes of the public, and overly concerned with administrative burdens. More troublingly, appointed status may also provide a measure of protection that encourages the use of discretion in ways that reduce turnout."