Issues that mobilize Europe. The role of key policy issues for voter turnout in the 2019 European Parliament election. (March 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Braun, Daniela; Schäfer, Constantin
• Other Names: van der Brug Wouter guest-editor.; Gattermann Katjana guest-editor.; de Vreese Claes H. guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: European Union politics. Volume 23:Number 1(2022)
• Page Start: 120
• Page End: 140
• Publication Date: 2022-03
• Subjects: European Parliament elections -- European Union -- political issues -- mobilization -- turnout; European Union countries -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; 320.9405
• DOI: 10.1177/14651165211040337
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1465-1165

Abstract

In light of the unexpectedly high turnout in the 2019 European Parliament election, we explore how major transnational policy issues mobilize voters in European electoral contests. Based on the analysis of two data sets, the Eurobarometer post-election survey and the RECONNECT panel survey, we make three important observations. First, European citizens show a higher tendency to participate in European Parliament elections when they attribute greater importance to the issues 'climate change and environment', 'economy and growth', and 'immigration'. Second, having a more extreme opinion on the issue of 'European integration' increases people's likelihood to vote in European elections. Third, the mobilizing effect of personal issue importance is enhanced by the systemic salience that the respective policy issue has during the election campaign. These findings show the relevance of issue mobilization in European Parliament elections as well as its context-dependent nature.