Web Sites in the European Elections Carlo Hagemann Nijmegen Institute for Communication Research Radboud University Nijmegen

European Union EU is governed by: EU is governed by: –Council –Commission –Parliament Parliament is the only directly representative institution Parliament is the only directly representative institution Parliament’s power is confined to co-decision Parliament’s power is confined to co-decision

Legitimacy of European Parliament European Parliament is considered to be European Parliament is considered to be –Intransparent –Invisible –Highly relevant or…. Low voter turnout Low voter turnout Second order national elections (Hix) Second order national elections (Hix)

Second order national elections European elections are considered not too relevant European elections are considered not too relevant European elections are considered a mega- opinion poll European elections are considered a mega- opinion poll –Fringe parties benefit –Government parties lose

Research Question To what degree, and in what manner do political parties incorporate their electoral strategies into the Internet Web sites? To what degree, and in what manner do political parties incorporate their electoral strategies into the Internet Web sites? –More specifically: »In what manner can ideological and national-cultural influences on campaign style and material be discerned? –Even more specifically: »In what manner can campaign style and material be seen as meant for a second order national election campaign?

Ideology or National-Culture Since European elections are considered second-order national elections: Since European elections are considered second-order national elections: –Hypothesis: European campaign is equal to national campaign »Only little attention for Europe »National issues instead of European issues –Hypothesis: If campaign issues and frames differ, it is between countries, not between ideologies

Research Design Content analysis Content analysis Archive of Web sites prior to the European Elections Archive of Web sites prior to the European Elections Two-stage-analysis Two-stage-analysis –Features: recording unit = Web site –Issues and Frames: recording unit = ‘Article’ about European Union

General observations Web sites supplement the rest of the campaign Web sites supplement the rest of the campaign –Information provision –Interactivity is mainly one way Web sites are rather sophisticated Web sites are rather sophisticated Most features are present on all Web sites, but: Most features are present on all Web sites, but: –No fundraising in the Netherlands and Ireland –Opinion polling reserved for the UK

Europe in Ireland Candidates

Europe in the UK

Europe in the Netherlands

Europe in Germany Eurokampa.de

Features: National and ideological CountryIdeology NetherlandsGermanyUKIreland Christian- democrats Liberals Social- democrats Green Interactive Navigation Conversion

IssuesCountryIdeology %NLDEUKIECDLibSDGreen Finance Econ. growth Employment Social policy Agriculture Expansion EU Reference EP Role EP Negative EP

Frames CountryIdeology mean score NLDEUKIECDLibSDGreen National vs European Substance vs Form Ethical vs Material

Summary Features do not correlate with ideology. If they correlate, it is with nationality Features do not correlate with ideology. If they correlate, it is with nationality Issues: Issues: –Social issues are Social Democrats’, whereas finance is Christian Democrats’ and Liberals’ –Expansion of EU is a Dutch and German issue Frames: Frames: –National frame is UK’s and Social Democrats’ –UK’s campaigns are least about political substance

Plans for Further Research Comparison with other elections, and off- election years Comparison with other elections, and off- election years Expanding on second order national elections Expanding on second order national elections Seeking for more theoretical substance in political science literature Seeking for more theoretical substance in political science literature Archiving, and securing data Archiving, and securing data Content Analysis could be more rigorous (and more tedious) Content Analysis could be more rigorous (and more tedious)