Kuka edustaa EU:n vastustajia? Euroopan parlamentin vaalit 2004

Authors

• Mikko Mattila
• Tapio Raunio

Abstract

Elections to the European Parliament are normally described as second-order elections. In such elections turnout is lower than in national parliamentary elections, and government parties tend to lose votes while opposition parties and particularly small parties on the other hand gain votes. In the 2004 Euroelections the second-order model was by and large valid: turnout was substantially lower than in national elections, and government parties increased their vote shares in only two out of the 25 EU countries. In Finland the decision to vote was strongly influenced by preferences towards European integration, with Eurosceptical voters largely abstaining from voting. This was in turn partially explained by the lack of congruence between voters and parties in EU issues, with the parties far more supportive of integration than the citizens.