Blondel, Jean (EUI); Sinnott, Richard (Dublin) and Svensson, Palle
(Aarhus) People and Parliament in the European Union: Participation,
Democracy and Legitimacy. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998.
Book and chapter abstracts
Abstract of book
This book sets out to analyse the relationship between people and parliament in the
European Union and the problem of participation in European Parliament elections. It
begins by examining the concepts of democracy and legitimacy as applied to the
supranational level of governance, by briefly reviewing approaches to the study of
turnout, including the approach embodied in the second-order-election model, and by
describing the main features of the survey (Eurobarometer 41.1, (1994)) on which the
study is based. The book summarises trends in turnout in European Parliament elections
and makes a key distinction between circumstantial and voluntary abstention. This is
followed by a series of chapters dealing with attitudes to European integration and to the
European Parliament and European elections, each chapter concluding with a bivariate
analysis of the relationship between such attitudes and participation/abstention in
European Parliament elections. Trends in attitudes and in turnout are also considered on a
country-by-country basis. The book then presents a multivariate analysis of various types
of abstention and concludes that some but not all of the contextual variables usually
thought to affect abstention do have a substantial impact; that the individual characteristic
with the most consistent effect on abstention is age, social class and educational effects
being modest; that, contrary to the findings of previous research, attitudes to the
European Union do have significant effects on abstention; that the second-order
explanation of abstention in European Parliament elections is not supported by the
evidence and that active exposure to the campaign significantly reduces voluntary Eurospecific abstention. Interpretation of the implications of these findings focuses on the
distinction between the facilitation and the mobilization of electoral participation. In
terms of facilitating participation in European Parliament elections, the book concludes
that turnout could be increased by addressing the problem of the day of the week on
which voting takes place, the problems of registration and use of voting cards that arise in
certain countries and problems arising from the timing of the elections in mid-June. In
terms of mobilising participation in European elections, the book concludes that, rather
than relying on the kind of transformational institutional change that would see European
Parliament elections providing a mandate to govern Europe, what is needed is a series of
piecemeal and specific approaches. Effective mobilisation of voters in European
Parliament elections will require painstaking efforts to inform European citizens and to
persuade them of the value of the process of European governance and of the significance
of the European-level issues involved. Voter mobilisation is enhanced by active exposure
to the campaign but it will also require a strengthening of the image of the Parliament in
the minds of the citizens and, through higher profile activity by MEPs during interelection periods, an improvement in people's perceptions of the capacity of the
Parliament to look after the interests of the citizens.
Abstract of chapter 1
Chapter 1 sets the context for this study of the relationship between people and
parliament in the European Union and of the problem of participation in European
Parliament elections by considering the meaning of the concepts of democracy and
legitimacy as applied to the supranational level of governance. It goes on to examine the
second-order-election model and concludes that assessment of the value of the model as
an account of the relationship between the citizens and the European Parliament and as an
explanation of turnout in European Parliament elections depends on the outcome of
detailed empirical research on the perceptions and attitudes of European citizens. The
chapter provides a very brief overview of the literature on turnout, emphasising the need
to pay attention to both contextual and individual-level variables. Finally, the chapter
deals with methodological aspects of the study and describes the main features of the
survey (Eurobarometer 41.1 (1994)) on which the study is based.
Abstract of chapter 2
Chapter 2 presents the data on turnout in European Parliament elections and examines the
evidence derived from an open-ended question in Eurobarometer 41.1 on the reasons
abstainers give for not voting. Based on this evidence, the chapter develops a distinction
between circumstantial and voluntary abstention. The incidence of various sub-types of
each of these forms of abstention is considered. The chapter concludes by presenting a
typology of participation/abstention in European Parliament elections that takes account
of the distinction between circumstantial and voluntary abstention and of whether
individuals voted in the European Parliament election only, in the most recent national
election only, in both or in neither.
Abstract of chapter 3
Chapter 3 analyses trends in support for European integration using the four standard
Eurobarometer indicators (dissolution, benefits, membership and unification). The
chapter also examines preferences regarding the scope of European-level decisionmaking, preferences regarding the development of a United States of Europe and
satisfaction with democracy at the European and national level. Finally the chapter
examines, on a bivariate basis, the evidence of the relationships (if any) between the
variables considered in the chapter and the types of electoral participation/abstention
outlined in chapter 2.
Abstract of chapter 4
Chapter 4 deals with the cognitive dimension of orientations to European integration and
the European institutions, focusing on awareness, interest and knowledge. It concludes by
examining the bivariate relationships between these variables and the types of electoral
participation/abstention.
Abstract of chapter 5
Chapter 5 examines perceptions of the power and reliability of the European Parliament
and affective images of the Parliament as measured by an open-ended likes-dislikes
question. As with the previous chapters, the relationship between such perceptions and
images and participation/abstention in European Parliament elections is considered, with
particular reference to the implications of the evidence for the second order election
model.
Abstract of chapter 6
Chapter 6 takes up the question of the perceptions of and attitudes to parties and
candidates in European and national elections. Measures of party differentials and
candidate differentials are presented and the implications of the evidence for an
assessment of the second-order election model are examined. The chapter then deals with
the citizens' experience of the European Parliament election campaign of 1994,
distinguishing between active and passive exposure to the campaign. The chapter
concludes with an examination of the relationship between the variables considered and
participation/abstention.
Abstract of chapter 7
Chapter 7 is devoted to an examination of cross-country variations in turnout in European
Parliament elections and of variations in the variables associated with turnout. Countries
are considered in three groups - high turnout, medium turnout and low turnout countries.
Within the groups defined, each of the 12 member states is considered separately, paying
due attention to the national institutional, cultural and political context.
Abstract of chapter 8
Having briefly considered the evidence of correlations between demographic
characteristics and participation/abstention, Chapter 8 categorises the large number of
potential influences on participation/abstention under six headings: institutional and
political context, personal characteristics, political attitude, second-order-election-model
effects, attitudes to the European Union and the European Parliament, and campaign
exposure. On the basis of a number of logistic regressions with the key types of
abstention as dependent variables, the analysis leads to five main conclusions. Firstly,
some but not all of the contextual variables usually thought to affect abstention have a
substantial impact. Secondly, the evidence shows that the personal characteristic with the
most consistent effect on abstention is age; social class effects appear to be quite limited
and the effects of education appears to be, at best, modest. Thirdly, contrary to the
findings of previous research, attitudes to the European Union have significant effects on
abstention. Fourthly, the second-order explanation of abstention in European Parliament
elections receives little or no support from the evidence; in particular, perceptions
indicating a presumed process of second-order reasoning do not predict voluntary Eurospecific abstention. Finally, active exposure to the campaign significantly reduces
voluntary Euro-specific abstention.
Abstract of chapter 9
Chapter 9 summarises the findings presented in the preceding chapters. Interpretation of
the implications of these findings focuses on the distinction between the facilitation and
the mobilization of electoral participation, taking into account the different contexts
created by different types of democratic governance and specifically by the type of
governance embodied in the European Union. In terms of facilitating participation in
European Parliament elections, the chapter concludes that turnout could be increased by
addressing the problem of the day of the week on which voting takes place, the problems
of registration and use of voting cards that arise in certain countries and problems arising
from the timing of the election in mid-June. In terms of mobilising participation in
European elections, the book concludes that, rather than relying on the kind of
transformational institutional change that would see European Parliament elections
providing a mandate to govern Europe, what is needed is a series of piecemeal and
specific approaches. Effective mobilisation of voters in European Parliament elections
will require painstaking efforts to inform European citizens and to persuade them of the
value of the process of European governance and of the significance of the Europeanlevel issues involved. Voter mobilisation is enhanced by active exposure to the campaign
but it will also require a strengthening of the image of the Parliament in the minds of the
citizens and, through higher profile activity by MEPs during inter-election periods, an
improvement in people's perceptions of the capacity of the Parliament to look after the
interests of the citizens.
Appendix
The appendix lists the questions in Eurobarometer 41.1 used in the analysis.