Lessons from aggregate analysis of participation in European Parliament elections:

1
Lessons from aggregate analysis of participation
in European Parliament elections Compared with
elections on other levels of governance,
education is more and local community less
important in explaining voter turnout
Prof. Søren Risbjerg Thomsen Århus University
FP6 CivicActive
Introduction This poster shows the main results
from an aggregate data analysis of voter turnout
at different levels of governance in Denmark,
Germany and France. The results indicate that
education is an important resource in mobilising
voters to participate in European politics, while
local community is more important in mobilising
voters to participate in local politics.
Results
Aim In interview surveys the respondents may not
tell the truth about their participation in
elections. This analysis aims at taking advantage
of aggregate data - the actual election
statistics with true information about the voters
political participation.

• Method

Statistical analysis
Theory
Theoretical model
Conclusion In line with expectations, in all
three countries education is in general more
important in explaining turnout at European
elections than at national and local elections,
while local community is less important. More
information in the report Søren Risbjerg Thomsen
(2008). Comparative aggregate analysis of
multilevel turnout. Contact Søren Risbjerg
ThomsenDepartment of political Science, Aarhus
University Universitetsparken, DK-8000 Aarhus
C srt_at_ps.au.dk
Hypothesis 1 The closer the level of governance
is to the national level, the higher the turnout
Hypothesis 2 The higher the level of
governance the more important competence (level
of education) is and the less important community
is for turnout