A Second-Order Campaign in Lithuania?

Abstract

The European Parliament (EP) elections represent a rather interesting case for election analysis. As Stromback, Maier and Kaid pointed out, ‘they are both national and European at the same time’.1 Since the first direct EP elections in 1979, much has changed, but the relative unimportance of the European elections (average turnout of voters is decreasing) remains constant.2 Research data show that parties and candidates as well as the media and voters tend to treat EP elections as second-order national elections.3 These ‘are perceived to be less important, because there is less at stake.’4 This second-order nature has several specific features: weak campaigning and little attention to European issues in the campaigns of political parties; low visibility of EP election campaigns in the media, which concentrates more on domestic issues than on European ones; lower turnout of voters in EP elections than that achieved in national elections; national governing parties and larger parties in general doing worse than parties in opposition and smaller ones.