1. Voter Turnout Why do people vote and does it make a difference?

2. Paradox of voting Why vote? Rational choice theory says that people make decisions rationally (cost/ benefit basis)

3. Empirical trends Country (no. of elections)*Vote/Reg% 1990s Malta (3) 96.2% Cyprus (2)92.2% Belgium (3)91.5% Luxembourg (2) 87.8% Iceland (3) 86.4% Italy (3) 85.5% Sweden (3) 85.4% Turkey (3) 85.4% Denmark (3) 84.3%Austria (4) 83.8% Andorra (2) 81.3% Germany (3) 79.9% Greece (2) 79.7% San Marino (2) 77.8% Spain (2) 77.6% Norway (2) 76.9% Netherlands (2) 76.0% United Kingdom (2) 74.7% Monaco (4) 69.5% France (2) 68.5% Finland (3) 67.4% Ireland (2) 67.3% Portugal (3) 65.2%25 Switzerland (2) 44.1%

4. Turnout over time

5. Another view

6. Regional variation and other trends See http://www.idea.int/vt/index.cfmhttp://www.idea.int/vt/index.cfm

7. Individual level variation: class, age, etc. from Pippa Norris (2003) These things matter, but country effects account for most variation

8. Cause of motivation/ variation Three types –Resources of the individual –Political mobilisation –Instrumental motivation

9. Causes of variation? Knowledge Efficacy/ importance of elections in changing policy Number of elections Connectedness Habit Size of country Day of the week Compulsory voting

10. Weekend Voting

11. Knowledge/ civic literacy Milner (2002) argues that people who have more knowledge about a subject are more likely to have a view on it Therefore those who have knowledge about politics will be more likely to vote Implications? –The better educated (those with the ability to gather knowledge) more likely to vote –Countries with responsible media will effect change (tabloid press?) –Higher newspaper sales > higher turnout?

12. Habit Franklin and Wessels (2002) suggest that voting may be a learnt process that one does and continues to do if one starts off voting But one doesn’t usually take up late in life Implications? Turnout changes are glacial

13. Connectedness Franklin argues we vote if we are connected to our district/ area Why might this be? How might we test this?

14. Impact of differential turnout Does non-voting have an impact on elections? Why might it? Think about the type of people who vote and those who do not… How might we verify this?