The influence of promotional activity and different electoral systems on voter turnout

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate EU election data for the UK and Germany and examine the influence of promotional activity (party campaigning) and the different voting systems prevailing in these two countries – first past the post (FPTP) in the UK and proportional representation (PR) in Germany – on voter turnout.Design/methodology/approachThe paper takes the form of a binomial logistic regression analysis of individual‐level survey data from the European Election Studies (EES) archive.FindingsThe findings suggest a general link between electoral systems, party campaigning and voter turnout. Individuals are more likely to turn out under PR systems, while “party campaigning” – including door‐to‐door canvassing and leafleting – also had a substantial positive effect on self‐reported turnout.Research limitations/implicationsThe structure of the EES survey questions means that it is impossible to separate out which mode of campaigning (impersonal or face‐to‐face) is driving the observed strong positive relationship between the variable “party campaigning” and voter turnout. More survey research should be carried out to tease out which specific types of promotional activity have more of an influence on voter turnout. In addition, aggregate level research on campaigning patterns across countries with different voting systems would be helpful to explore this phenomenon in more depth.Originality/valueWhile research has been undertaken within the context of specific countries such as the UK, USA and New Zealand, there appears to have been no research reported within the context of the EU.