Účast ve volbách do Evropského parlamentu 2014: Proč tak málo?
| Title in English | Turnout in the 2014 European Parliament Elections: Why So Little? |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Politics in Central Europe |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Political sciences |
| Keywords | voter turnout; European Parliament elections; second-order elections; electoral cycle; post-communist countries |
| Description | Most of the existing literature has labelled the elections to European Parliament as second-order national elections. Assuming the low level of their importance compared to first-order elections, commentators have highlighted three distinct features: (1) weak turnout, (2) the defeat of government parties and (3) the defeat of major parties. This article addresses the assumption of low rates of electoral participation. It is emphasised that voter turnout for EP elections varies substantially across the member states, and in some of these countries, it is not considerably lower than the rate for first-order elections. In addition, since the 1980s, European Parliament has gained some new powers, enabling this directly elected body to participate significantly in creating European law. Given these facts, we may expect that some participation determinants do not relate to the national political arena; “European factors” may also matter when it comes to people's decisions about whether to vote in EP elections. Nevertheless, the results of the empirical analysis below show that although European factors have some impact, national determinants are far more relevant for explaining participation in EP elections. In terms of turnout, then, EP elections are still second-order national elections rather than second-order European elections. |
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