Le vote désinvesti. Quelques éléments d'analyse des rapports au vote

Abstract

The indifferent voter. Analysis of electors' relationship with their votes. Daniel Gaxie. [138-164]. The less interested in politics are the citizens, the more likely they are to abstain from voting. At the same time, electoral participation depends on a lot of other factors, especially the feeling of civic duty. Voters are therefore very differents with regard to their concern in the election they participante in. That is the reason why the study of electoral bebaviour must focus on and start with inequally involved citizens' attitude towards their vote. This paper presents some results of an inquity held in the town of Amiens during tbe municipal elections of 1989. Both sarnple survey and thorough interviews were conducted. They show that voters pay unequal attention to the campaign and are unequally familiar with the candidates, the main issues and the results of the election. Their way of voting varies also very much with their degree of concern. Tbe most interested decide tbemselves more often on general and political grunds, even if they are far from the rational voter model. More indifferent citizens' "choice" is more inconsistant and less general, it is frequently made on practical interests of their everyday life or on their evaluation of the personality of one of tbe candidates.