Abstention

Under a non-voters is defined as a person eligible to vote who are not actively involved in political elections. The term is used in common parlance and the reporting of the media in connection with political elections.

• 4.1 normalization thesis
• 4.2 Crisis thesis

Phenomenon

Non-voters in Germany

Turnout in Germany has different degrees removed on average since 1949 at all levels of the political system. Striking is the proportion of non-voters in local, regional, state assembly, and European elections. In the European elections, the proportion of non-voters since 1979 of 34.3 % increased to 56.7% ( 2009 European elections ); in federal elections, he has more than tripled, from 8.9 % ( 1972) to 29.2 % ( 2009).

Non-voters in other countries

The situation in Austria is quite comparable with Germany. Here the non-voters share rose in the House of Representatives of about 9 percent in 1979 to about 21 percent in 2008.

The number of non-voters is significantly higher than in Germany in Switzerland and is about 50 percent of all eligible voters in the general election since 1979.

In France, the non-participation achieved in the so-called " banlieues " in the regional elections a rate of up to 70 percent, which is regarded as evidence of a disintegration not only of the electorate, but of society.

In the U.S., non-voters are decades more than 50 percent of all eligible voters.

Effect of the non-election

Under the current electoral law in virtually all countries, memberships or seats are distributed on the basis of the valid votes cast. Due to the non-participation in elections is the reference basis on which the relative share of a party refers reduced. According to the rules of the fractions so the denominator is initially smaller. Especially parties with a stable electoral base thus benefit from the constant meter ( votes ) in the fractions.

Suppose that X party had an almost stable electoral potential of 95,000 votes. The number of valid votes cast is first 2,000,000. The party X therefore achieved 4.75% and fails at the 5 % clause.

At the next election, the number of non-voters increases. This means that the number of valid votes cast drops to 1,800,000. The party X loses slightly, but remains quite stable at a total of 91,000 votes. You reached by the lower reference base now 5.06% of the valid votes and creates the 5 % threshold.

Parties A and B achieved in the last election 46% of the valid votes 2,000,000. Thus, each of the two parties received 920,000 votes.

At the next election party A loses massive and reached only 750,000 votes. Party B remains relatively constant and reaches 918,000 votes. The percentage of Party A drops to 41.7 % of the valid votes while Party B, despite almost constant votes with 51% achieved an absolute majority.

Hiking with all parties A, B and X voters into the camp of non-voters from, the effect depends on how allocations were divided on the parties. Losing all absolutely the same amount, for example, 20,000 votes, so naturally party X is strongest at a disadvantage. Lose, however, all the same percentage much so is the effect of non-election equal to zero.

Types of non-voters

The division into types of non-voters is different depending on the author. So Oskar Niedermayer shares the non-voters into four groups:

• The disinterested
• The rational deliberative
• The protest voters
• The "technical" non-voters

According to Karl -Rudolf Korte, the discussion about the reasons for the increase of non-voters is by no means decided. From the point of view of the increasing delegitimization of the entire political system ( crisis thesis see below) identifies the following causes:

• Parties and politics
• Dissatisfaction with the political system
• Social and economic discontent

From the opposite point of view ( normalization thesis see below) is rather the increasing satisfaction of a cause of the increasing number of non-voters. A careful division into types of non-voters is:

• Sullen, disaffected non-voter
• Politically non-affected non-voters

After Thomas Kleinhenz much to be said for the effect of period effects. It shares the non-voters in seven groups:

• The " marginalized "
• The " disinterested Passive "
• The " Saturated "
• The " rise -oriented Younger "
• The " young individualist "
• The " political activists "
• The " disillusioned workers"

In summary it can be stated:

The rational deliberative, cyclical or periodic non-voters are the largest group of non-voters. After an explanation, emanating from the premises of the rational voter to non-voters in this group included only in individual elections their vote and decide situationally from election to election, whether they want to participate or not - depending on the importance it the choice for a cost - benefit assessment attach ( Bundestag elections, for example, much higher than European elections). Social psychological approaches to interpretation, according to they are mostly satisfied with the system have little or no party affiliation and tend in general due to cognitive dissonance to changeable choice behavior. The economic non-voters are the focus of scientific interest in the election research.

Another group are the basic non-voters, the elections in several series or never participate for very different reasons in political elections. These include citizens who do not vote about from a structural opposition to the political system or religious reasons, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses (see section relationship to the state ) or the Christadelphians. For them, the non-participation is a conscious decision. Their number is very low esteem. The basic non-voters but include all those who never leave because of lack of political interest and great distance towards the political institutions of their voice.

The self-confessed non-voters want with their abstention articulate political protest. They often have a strong party identification and see abstention as " punish " their party. Non-voters researcher Michael Eilfort sees here in the abstention the result of a conscious decision by politically informed and interested citizens. The non-election for reasons of political protest is sometimes explained with the approach of the Rational Voter, such as when non-voters consider using their voices deprivation could in the " abgestraften party" state immediately after the election of a programmatic reorientation process. " Rational " non-voters then evaluate the expected personal benefits of such intra-party debate higher than a usual voting for this party.

The so-called spurious non-voters, also called technical non-voters arise due to faulty electoral rolls (such as deceased persons are still performed just before the election in the electoral registers) to late abgeschickte postal ballot documents, disease or related short-term prevention. This group is estimated to be 4 to 5% of non-voters.

Interpretation of the phenomenon

The phenomenon of non- voting is assessed differently. Two opposing theories are opposite each other. While representatives of the crisis thesis mainly want to make politics, protest and rejection of the system behind the abstention, others see behind the increasing numbers non-voters a longer-term normalization, compared to other Western democracies.

Normalization thesis

It says that the system works and citizen satisfaction with it is so large that the voters no longer have the feeling of being needed at each election. In addition, the politically disinterested would refuse to vote now in Germany, as it was in other democratic countries have always been. With the decline in voter turnout, the Federal Republic will easily detected by a trend that began earlier in other Western democracies - a symptom of the crisis is not spoken in this way of thinking. Social change, Dealignment and increasing flexibility in the choice behavior can be the non-election to another accepted option for the swing voters are.

Crisis thesis

Representatives of this thesis, however, see a signal for diverse motivated political discontent and a growing anti-party attitude in the decline in voter turnout. The development in Germany is based, according to this hypothesis, from an increased votes refusal politically interested citizens and to be regarded as a warning signal. The choice is not understood consciously used technique to express discontent and protest - the much-touted " lesson " and thus an act of political behavior.