Analiza apstinencije na europskim izborima
Voter’s Abstinence In European Elections

Summary/Abstract: The paper analyses the increasingly acute problem of low voter turnout for the elections for the European Parliament. The author identifies the key determinants of electoral participation, and focuses on how election campaigns affect the electorates’ mobilization. By analyzing the results of various polls and by applying Sinnott’s model of voter participation to the Slovenian institutional context, the author outlines the key circumstances leading to the disturbingly low voter turnout. The author points out the weaknesses of the institutional pre¬conditions – in the form of certain awkward electoral institutions, primarily regarding the institutional mobilization marked by half-baked electoral strategies of political parties and the unremarkable and dull campaigns – that are supposed to increase voter participa¬tion. The low level of institutional mobilization has evidently affected the electorate’s perceptions of power and trust in political institutions. This is why the institutional incentives for taking a vote have not been sufficient. By way of conclusion the author offers some recom¬mendations concerning how to alter and improve the electoral insti¬tutions and the practice of the EU political parties, states and institu¬tions.

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