Leiden University Student Repository

Gevers, Jeroen (2024)

Democratic engagement in second order elections. would compulsory voting make a difference in the European Union?

Master thesis | Political Science (MSc)

This research attempts to isolate the impact of compulsory voting on democratic engagement in the European Union (EU), with a focus on elections for the European Parliament (EP). I examine if compulsory voting influences democratic engagement in between election cycles, particularly within the context of second-order elections like the European Union example. Employing a Small-N comparative approach, this study assesses how Belgium and Luxembourg compare to Ireland and the Netherlands, which share known predictors for political participation but differ in compulsory voting implementation. Data from the Eurobarometer and an additional followership experiment are analyzed to explore cognitive and active democratic engagement. The findings provide insight into the role of compulsory voting as a mechanism to enhance democratic engagement within the EU, addressing concerns regarding the current perceived democratic deficit.

Author

Gevers, Jeroen

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Democracy and Representation

Supervisors

Biezen I.C. van

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en