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Does personalization increase turnout? Spitzenkandidaten in the 2014 European Parliament elections

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  • Hermann Schmitt
  • Sara Hobolt
  • Sebastian Adrian Popa

Abstract

The 2014 European Parliament elections were the first elections where the major political groups each nominated a lead candidate ( Spitzenkandidat ) for the Commission presidency in the hope that this would increase the visibility of the elections and mobilize more citizens to turn out. Using data from the 2014 European Elections Study, an EU-wide post-election survey, we analyse whether and how the presence of the lead candidates influenced the individual probability to participate in these elections. Our findings show that the recognition of the candidates increased the propensity to turn out, even when controlling for a host of other individual-level factors explaining turnout and the context factors known to facilitate participation. Furthermore, the campaign efforts of the lead candidates are associated with higher turnout levels and are reinforced by candidate recognition.

Suggested Citation

  • Hermann Schmitt & Sara Hobolt & Sebastian Adrian Popa, 2015. "Does personalization increase turnout? Spitzenkandidaten in the 2014 European Parliament elections," European Union Politics, , vol. 16(3), pages 347-368, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:16:y:2015:i:3:p:347-368
    DOI: 10.1177/1465116515584626
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    Cited by:

    1. Heidi Schulze, 2016. "The Spitzenkandidaten in the European Parliament Election Campaign Coverage 2014 in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(1), pages 23-36.
    2. Nadia Fiorino & Nicola Pontarollo & Roberto Ricciuti, 2017. "Supra National, National and Regional Dimensions of Voter Turnout in European Parliament Elections," JRC Research Reports JRC108755, Joint Research Centre.
    3. Katjana Gattermann & Claes De Vreese & Wouter van der Brug, 2016. "Evaluations of the Spitzenkandidaten: The Role of Information and News Exposure in Citizens’ Preference Formation," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(1), pages 37-54.
    4. Ryan Bakker & Seth Jolly & Jonathan Polk, 2018. "Multidimensional incongruence and vote switching in Europe," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 176(1), pages 267-296, July.

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