ABSTRACT
This chapter explains which characteristics, both at the country and the individual levels, may have affected the likelihood to turn out to vote in the 2009 election to the European Parliament (EP). Drawing on data from the EP Election Voter Study (EES) 2009, the chapter checks the effects of different sets of variables by calculating independent models for country-level characteristics, socio- demographics, general attitudes, Europe-related attitudes, and campaign-related characteristics. Volatility in post-communist countries is rather high for both national and European elections, and there is no pattern common to the countries. The other findings of individual-level analyses provide evidence for the conclusion that turnout is a multi-faceted phenomenon that cannot be explained by a limited set of variables: Several social structural and general attitudinal predictors have an impact on electoral participation leaving enough room for future analyses on the causes of abstention in EP elections.
