THE INVOLVEMENT OF VOTERS IN THE EUROPEAN ELECTIONS OF 1979: ITS EXTENT AND SOURCES
In: European journal of political research: official journal of the European Consortium for Political Research, Band 8, Heft 4, S. 359-385
ISSN: 1475-6765
ABSTRACTThis article examines the reception by voters of the first direct elections to the European Parliament in June 1979, using data from comparable surveys conducted shortly after Polling Day in eight of the nine member states of the European Community. Against a background of party campaigning and media coverage which often differed from that normally associated with national elections, four indices of popular involvement are examined: degree of interest in the campaign; evaluations of its presentation on television; the extent to which it was followed through the mass media and other channels of communication; and voters' perceptions of the issues that emerged from the campaign. A number of influences that affected turnout and other forms of electoral participation are then reviewed, including outlook on European affairs, partisan affiliations, demographic positions, and amount of mass media exposure to the campaign, a factor which appeared particularly significant for those voters whose interest in the campaign was relatively weak.