Web Sites in the European ElectionsWeb Sites in the European Elections

Carlo HagemannCarlo HagemannNijmegen Institute for Communication Nijmegen Institute for Communication

ResearchResearchRadboud University NijmegenRadboud University Nijmegen

European UnionEuropean Union

EU is governed by:EU is governed by:– CouncilCouncil– CommissionCommission– ParliamentParliament

Parliament is the only directly Parliament is the only directly representative institutionrepresentative institution

Parliament’s power is confined to Parliament’s power is confined to co-decisionco-decision

Legitimacy of European ParliamentLegitimacy of European Parliament

European Parliament is considered to beEuropean Parliament is considered to be– IntransparentIntransparent– InvisibleInvisible– Highly relevant or…. Highly relevant or….

Low voter turnoutLow voter turnout Second order national elections (Hix)Second order national elections (Hix)

Second order national electionsSecond order national elections

European elections are considered not too European elections are considered not too relevantrelevant

European elections are considered a mega-European elections are considered a mega-opinion pollopinion poll– Fringe parties benefitFringe parties benefit– Government parties loseGovernment parties lose

Research QuestionResearch Question

To what degree, and in what manner do political To what degree, and in what manner do political parties incorporate their electoral strategies into parties incorporate their electoral strategies into the Internet Web sites?the Internet Web sites?– More specifically:More specifically:

» In what manner can ideological and national-cultural In what manner can ideological and national-cultural influences on campaign style and material be discerned?influences on campaign style and material be discerned?

– Even more specifically:Even more specifically:» In what manner can campaign style and material be seen as In what manner can campaign style and material be seen as

meant for a second order national election campaign?meant for a second order national election campaign?

Ideology or National-CultureIdeology or National-Culture

Since European elections are considered Since European elections are considered second-order national elections:second-order national elections:– Hypothesis: European campaign is equal to Hypothesis: European campaign is equal to

national campaignnational campaign» Only little attention for EuropeOnly little attention for Europe

» National issues instead of European issuesNational issues instead of European issues

– Hypothesis: If campaign issues and frames Hypothesis: If campaign issues and frames differ, it is between countries, not between differ, it is between countries, not between ideologiesideologies

Research DesignResearch Design

Content analysisContent analysis Archive of Web sites prior to the European Archive of Web sites prior to the European

ElectionsElections Two-stage-analysisTwo-stage-analysis

– Features: recording unit = Web siteFeatures: recording unit = Web site– Issues and Frames: recording unit = ‘Article’ Issues and Frames: recording unit = ‘Article’

about European Unionabout European Union

General observationsGeneral observations

Web sites supplement the rest of the Web sites supplement the rest of the campaigncampaign– Information provisionInformation provision– Interactivity is mainly one wayInteractivity is mainly one way

Web sites are rather sophisticatedWeb sites are rather sophisticated Most features are present on all Web sites, Most features are present on all Web sites,

but:but:– No fundraising in the Netherlands and IrelandNo fundraising in the Netherlands and Ireland– Opinion polling reserved for the UKOpinion polling reserved for the UK

Europe in IrelandEurope in Ireland

www.finegail.ie

Candidates

Europe in the UKEurope in the UKwww.labour.org.uk

Europe in the NetherlandsEurope in the Netherlands

www.vvd.nl

Europe in GermanyEurope in Germanywww.spd.de Eurokampa.de

Features: National and ideologicalFeatures: National and ideological

Country Ideology

Netherlands

Germany

UKIrela

nd

Christian-

democrats

LiberalsSocial-democra

ts

Green

Interactive .28 .13 .13 .25 .20 .19 .19 .19

Navigation .63 .88

1.00 .25 .70 .63 .75 .63

Conversion .42 .58 .17 .17 .33 .25 .25 .42

IssuesIssuesCountryCountry IdeologyIdeology

%% NLNL DEDE UKUK IEIE CDCD LibLib SDSD GreenGreen

FinanceFinance 27.127.1 26.826.8 6.96.9 8.78.7

Econ. growthEcon. growth 5.95.9 10.910.9 30.030.0 11.111.1

EmploymentEmployment 13.213.2 12.512.5 25.025.0 5.65.6 14.614.6 10.710.7 27.627.6 0.00.0

Social policySocial policy 10.310.3 4.74.7 7.57.5 25.025.0 6.36.3 3.63.6 22.422.4 8.78.7

AgricultureAgriculture 16.216.2 4.74.7 2.52.5 2.82.8

Expansion EUExpansion EU 20.620.6 28.128.1 10.010.0 5.65.6 18.818.8 26.826.8 22.422.4 2.22.2

Reference EPReference EP 45.645.6 28.128.1 65.065.0 44.444.4

Role EPRole EP 7.47.4 17.517.5 4.74.7 13.913.9

Negative EPNegative EP 10.310.3 3.13.1 25.025.0 11.111.1 20.820.8 8.98.9 8.68.6 6.56.5

FramesFrames

CountryCountry IdeologyIdeology

mean scoremean score NLNL DEDE UKUK IEIE CDCD LibLib SDSD GreenGreen

National vs National vs EuropeanEuropean

.18.18 .23.23 .51.51 .44.44 .34.34 .22.22 .41.41 .24.24

Substance vs Substance vs FormForm

.41.41 .41.41 .34.34 .49.49 .41.41 .40.40 .41.41 .43.43

Ethical vs Ethical vs MaterialMaterial

.80.80 .70.70 .74.74 .75.75 .73.73 .75.75 .78.78 .72.72

SummarySummary

Features do not correlate with ideology. If they Features do not correlate with ideology. If they correlate, it is with nationalitycorrelate, it is with nationality

Issues:Issues:– Social issues are Social Democrats’, whereas finance is Social issues are Social Democrats’, whereas finance is

Christian Democrats’ and Liberals’Christian Democrats’ and Liberals’

– Expansion of EU is a Dutch and German issueExpansion of EU is a Dutch and German issue

Frames:Frames:– National frame is UK’s and Social Democrats’National frame is UK’s and Social Democrats’

– UK’s campaigns are least about political substanceUK’s campaigns are least about political substance

Plans for Further ResearchPlans for Further Research

Comparison with other elections, and off-Comparison with other elections, and off-election yearselection years

Expanding on second order national Expanding on second order national electionselections

Seeking for more theoretical substance in Seeking for more theoretical substance in political science literaturepolitical science literature

Archiving, and securing dataArchiving, and securing data Content Analysis could be more rigorous Content Analysis could be more rigorous

(and more tedious)(and more tedious)