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Do (too many) elections depress participation? How the position, frequency and nature of domestic ballots affect turnout in European Parliament elections

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  • François Briatte

    (European School of Political and Social Sciences, 27021Université catholique de Lille, Lille, France)

  • Camille Kelbel

    (European School of Political and Social Sciences, 27021Université catholique de Lille, Lille, France)

  • Julien Navarro

    (ETHICS EA 7446, 27021Université catholique de Lille, Lille, France)

Abstract

In Europe, the multiplication of elections makes the election calendar a decisive issue given the decreasing participatory trend. Turnout is expected to be higher in simultaneous elections, while it lessens if several elections are held over a short period. The saliency of the preceding ballot may also affect participation in the next one. In this article, we argue that these temporal effects are crucial for European Parliament elections due to their second-order nature. We analyse how the position, frequency and nature of domestic ballots affect European Parliament elections turnout since 1979. Our results indicate that the participation level is less affected by the timing of elections than by their overall frequency. The type of preceding election also matters, although not the second-order nature per se.

Suggested Citation

  • François Briatte & Camille Kelbel & Julien Navarro, 2024. "Do (too many) elections depress participation? How the position, frequency and nature of domestic ballots affect turnout in European Parliament elections," European Union Politics, , vol. 25(3), pages 549-568, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:25:y:2024:i:3:p:549-568
    DOI: 10.1177/14651165241257779
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