Disengaging elections? Political interest, number of elections, and turnout in elections to the European Parliament

Jeffrey Nonnemacher

European Union Politics, 2021, vol. 22, issue 3, 545-565

Abstract: Since direct elections to the European Parliament began in 1979, variations in voting behavior in European Parliament elections from national elections have raised interesting questions about political behavior. I add to a growing literature that explores turnout in European Parliament elections by focusing on the count of national elections between European Parliament elections. Through a cross-national study of elections, I find that turnout decreases in the European Parliament contest following cycles with numerous national contests. Then, using data from the European Election Study, I argue that this is the result of frequent elections decreasing turnout particularly among already low interest voters who stay home. My findings have implications for how formal rules of multi-level elections shape political behavior more generally and voter fatigue in particular.

Keywords: Elections; European Parliament elections; European politics; political disengagement; turnout (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:22:y:2021:i:3:p:545-565

DOI: 10.1177/1465116521998455

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