Political Consequences of Low Turnout in the 2009 European Parliament Elections

If electoral abstention is linked to party preferences, low turnout -- as witnessed in European Parliament elections -- may hurt some parties & benefit others. In order to assess this possibility, we compare, in the member states of the EU, parties' vote shares in the 2009 European Parliame...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Politische Vierteljahresschrift 2010-12, Vol.51 (4), p.605-617
Main Authors: van der Eijk, Cees, Schmitt, Hermann, Sapir, Eliyahu V
Format: Article
Language:ger
Subjects:
Elections
Electoral abstentionism
Electoral results
Europe
European elections
European Parliament
European Union
Legislative Bodies
Political parties
Political Power
Preferences
Representation
Voter Turnout
Voting
Voting behaviour
Voting turnout
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Summary:If electoral abstention is linked to party preferences, low turnout -- as witnessed in European Parliament elections -- may hurt some parties & benefit others. In order to assess this possibility, we compare, in the member states of the EU, parties' vote shares in the 2009 European Parliament elections with the results that would have been obtained had turnout reached the level of national general elections. We find that the effects of low turnout are minimal, & that -- except for a single seat -- higher turnout would not have resulted in a different composition of the European Parliament. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:0032-3470
DOI:10.1007/s11615-010-0038-4