Political Elite vs. Media: Consequences of Framing for Voter Turnout in EP Elections

European Elections in general attract much less voters to cast their votes than national elections do. The question why has been mainly addressed with ‘second order’ elections theory; voters care of national-level issues more than EU related issues. Even though low turnout in the EP elections has declined severely over the years, it actually decreased only slightly among the old member states. My point of departure, therefore, ties with the fact that it is the new member states that joined the EU in 2004 and after that contribute with very low turnout. My study therefore investigates the factors that explain this variation. The context of my study is the 2009 EP elections and I use a cross-national voter survey and media content analysis conducted in 27 EU member states. I am expecting to find that the use of framing strategies and exposure to distinct sources of influence all matter in explaining the way voters behave at European elections and consequently, support European integration process.