Nicholas Clark

Second‐Order Elections versus First‐Order Thinking: How Voters Perceive the Representation Process in a Multi‐Layered System of Governance

Abstract Second‐order election models are based on several assumptions about individual‐level motivations. These can be summarized by a transfer hypothesis: individuals presumably apply their evaluations of national‐level phenomena to the EU level when voting in EU elections. In contrast, a suis generis hypothesis stipulates that voters evaluate the EU on its own performance terms. This paper tests these competing hypotheses. We find considerable support for both models. In the election context, where national institutions — political parties — dominate the representation process, the transfer hypothesis receives considerable support. However, we also find surprisingly strong support for the first‐order hypothesis: electoral choice in EU election is influenced to a considerable extent by EU level factors. Furthermore, when voters evaluate the mechanisms of representation more broadly without a focus on elections per se, we find much more support for the first‐order than the transfer hypothesis — voters clearly separate the two levels and evaluate each level on its own terms. These results have important implications, both for how we analyse voters’ decisions in European elections, and how we view the sophistication of voters more broadly in the context of multi‐layered institutions.

Information effects and mass support for EU policy control

Democracy requires an active and informed citizenry. Citizen engagement is all the more critical in complex environments such as the European Union (EU). This article examines how having an informed public matters for support for European-level policy competencies. Is public skepticism of EU authority shaped by a lack of knowledge, or are attitudes about policy jurisdiction in Europe’s multilevel system unbiased by information? Our analysis of collective opinion in 27 issue areas reveals that, in nearly every case, a paucity of knowledge about the EU reduces popular support for European policy control. Further analyses show that possessing knowledge of Europe’s institutions affects support for EU authority in areas involving cross-border political issues. In contrast, we find no consistent biasing effect on opinions about control over economic issues.

Explaining Low Turnout in European Elections: The Role of Issue Salience and Institutional Perceptions in Elections to the European Parliament

Abstract Elections to the European Parliament have been unable to capture the public’s interest— turnout remains far lower than most national elections and many who do vote appear more concerned with sending messages of approval to national political parties than electing representatives at the EU level. This paper seeks to explain why the public does not take these elections seriously. A common explanation is that the public simply does not care about EU politics. In addition to this ‘issue-based’ argument, this article considers where a lack of trust in the European Parliament itself may lead many individuals to abstain from EP elections. Using pre and post-election survey data, results suggest that perceptions of the EP indeed have a significant effect on the decision to vote in EP elections.

The EU's Information Deficit: Comparing Political Knowledge across Levels of Governance

Abstract Over the last 20 years, several scholars have argued that the legitimacy of the European Union (EU) suffers from an alarming level of public apathy toward EU affairs. Such critiques often assume that the public is largely ignorant about EU politics. However, we have yet to empirically determine the extent to which Europeans understand the EU or to identify the conditions that lead the public to become better informed about European politics. Given the higher salience of national issues and the greater media attention devoted to national politics, I theorize that most individuals indeed know more about their national government than the EU. Using data from Eurobarometer 61.0 and the 2009 European Election Study, I find individuals indeed perform worse on knowledge batteries at the European level. To better explain the publics understanding of EU affairs, I then model a number of micro- and macro-level predictors of knowledge and find that some of the usual suspects (such as education and the media) influence EU knowledge. Implications are drawn for the study of political behaviour in multilevel political systems.

The Federalist Perspective in Elections to the European Parliament

The literature on elections to the European Parliament establishes that both national and EU-relevant considerations influence the decision to participate in EP elections as well as the likelihood that EP voters will switch their support between different parties. However, there have been relatively few efforts to identify the conditions that prompt individuals to consider the EU when deciding to participate or when casting a ballot. This article theorizes that individuals from decentralized political systems are more keenly aware of the distribution of functional responsibilities within the EU and are thus more likely to vote on EU-relevant concerns in EP elections. The results from analyses of survey data from the 2009 European Election Study, together with contextual measures of decentralization, suggest that individuals from decentralized systems are more likely to participate in EP elections and that vote-switchers are more likely to be motivated by evaluations of the EUs performance.

Explaining Political Knowledge: The Role of Procedural Quality in an Informed Citizenry

While much is known about the micro-level predictors of political knowledge, there have been relatively few efforts to study the potential macro-level causes of knowledge. Seeking to improve our understanding of country-based variation in knowledge, this article demonstrates that individuals have an easier time finding and interpreting information in political environments that provide the public with greater opportunities to engage, observe, and learn about the political process. To investigate that possibility, the article analyzes how the procedural quality of the political process affects political knowledge. Using data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems and the Worldwide Governance Indicators Project, survey analyses show that the transparency and responsiveness of a political system indeed influence the public’s information about political parties and, to a lesser extent, the amount of factual knowledge retained by survey respondents. In other words, the quality of democratic governance affects how much individuals know about the political process.

EU Simulations and Engagement: Motivating Greater Interest in European Union Politics

ABSTRACT While the effects of simulation-based courses on the knowledge of participating students may be marginal in relation to standard lecture and discussion-based courses, this article argues that the greatest leverage is gained by increasing participating students’ level of interest in the subject of study and in politics more broadly. Participants tend to become increasingly absorbed in their roles and in the politics of the institutions at the center of the simulation. To better consider this possibility, we conducted a survey of students participating in the 2015 Mid-Atlantic European Union Simulation and of appropriate control populations. The survey results indeed suggest that, much more than simply acquiring knowledge about the EU, the simulation experience serves to generate more robust interest in the subject of study.

The Costs and Benefits of Organizing a Multi-institutional Simulation on the European Union

While much research has been conducted on the use of political simulations and other active learning experiences in the classroom environment, there has been little scholarship about multi-institutional simulations such as Model UN and Model EU. This chapter examines the organization and learning outcomes of one such simulation, the 25-year-old Mid-Atlantic Model EU (MEUSC). The complexity of the MEUSC simulation and the logistical issues related to convening several institutions in Washington, D.C. each year require a strong commitment from the participating faculty. Yet, the MEUSC organizers believe that the benefits of the simulation more than outweigh the costs. Prior assessments of the simulation outcomes, including a pre-/post-survey instrument launched in 2015, offer some support for this belief. These assessments suggest that students learn as much or more about the EU than they would from a traditional lecture environment. Perhaps more importantly, participating in the simulation appears to engender greater interest in the EU. The faculty organizers remain engaged in ongoing efforts to assess the effects of multi-institutional simulations.

Elucidating EU Engagement: Rethinking Dimensions of Supranational Participation

ABSTRACT Concerns about the quality of the EU’s democratic participation are reflected in much of the research on EU attitudes and voting behavior in European Parliament elections or EU referendums. Yet few – if any – have considered other types of behavior that may be associated with a vibrant EU citizenry. We propose a new theoretical framework for capturing the broad range of participatory activities in which citizens may engage at the EU level, then use original survey data from the United Kingdom to test the validity of these dimensions. We also assess the extent to which predictors from existing literature (identity threat, economic concerns, political attitudes, and sociodemographics) explain these various forms of behavior. Results suggest that citizens pursue a wide array of participation avenues, with different sets of motivations underpinning each one. These findings are essential for better understanding individuals’ political (dis)engagement, both with the EU and beyond.

Local media tone, economic conditions, and the evaluation of US governors

ABSTRACT Connections between media coverage, economic conditions, and performance evaluations of political leaders have seldom been explored in specific local media markets, due to the challenges of measuring media tone and content for a large number of media outlets or markets. In this paper, we develop a measure of media tone by comparing the economic evaluations of local media consumers and national media consumers within the same media market. We then use this measure to evaluate the relationship between media tone and objective economic conditions. We find that positive media tone increases the probability that individuals will approve of the governor’s performance in office, and that tone also attenuates the negative relationship between unemployment and gubernatorial approval.