KÄNSLOR SOM ENGAGERAR

Sammanfattning: Turnout in European Parliament elections are generally lower than in national elections, which is a democratic challenge. While previous research has established an association between affective polarization and turnout levels in national elections in several European multiparty systems, the question remains as to whether affective polarization might also increase turnout in European Parliament elections. This study aims to investigate a potential association between high levels of affective polarization and turnout, on an individual level. I argue that high levels of affective polarization might counter the understanding of European Parliament elections as second order elections, thus increasing turnout. The results of the linear multiple regression analysis, based on survey data from the Swedish European Parliament Election Study 2019, show a positive significant association between individuals’ degree of affective polarization and turnout in the European Parliament elections of 2019 in Sweden. The study also investigates whether the association between affective polarization and turnout varies in strength depending on whether individuals hold a positive partisanship, but no such indication is found. In the concluding remarks, the implications of the study and avenues for future research are discussed.