The authors of this important study on voter turnout at European Parliament elections distinguish carefully between democracy and legitimacy. Democracy is a system that allows the people to have a say in choosing their government at regular intervals, and to assemble and speak freely; while legitimacy is a variable quantity depending on the support of the people for the institutions in question, whether or not they turn out to vote. Legitimacy may vary over time.
The authors' conclusions are that the EU has widespread but fragile support, and opposition is small. People's attitudes to the EP are not much different from their attitude to their national parliament, and the less knowledgeable they are the less difference there will be. Lack of image is the European Parliament's problem.
For more than half of European electors, it matters which party or candidate wins - this is more than expected, and quite like the national figure. For these reasons it is not correct to suppose that EP elections are second-order elections.
Turnout is not determined by the voter's belief about the powers of the European Parliament, nor is it mainly influenced by national political attitudes; European orientations play a big role, for example, attitude to the EU, attitude to further integration, and degree of involvement in the integration process. People who believe that there is less at stake in the EP than in national elections, are not less likely to turn out.
So the authors suggest two ways to increase turnout: facilitating the voter, and mobilising the voter. As regards facilitation, the elections should not be held in June - April would be much better. Easier postal voting and simpler registration would help, as would voting over two days, Sunday-Monday. As regards mobilisation, simultaneous local or regional elections would help, whereas simultaneous national elections swamp the European dimension. Secondly, the voters must be persuaded that the EP is reliable.
Most of all, the parties must ensure a degree of choice, by emphasising significant differences between the candidates and between the party manifestos and attitudes. The rapidly growing competencies of the EP, combined with the dispersal of power between the institutions of the EU and its consensus decision-making system, give individual MEPs greater power than many of their colleagues in national parliaments. This is likely to influence voters, who are concerned with candidates as much as with parties.
This process of mobilisation is a slow piecemeal process, informing electors and persuading them of the value of the EU, strengthening the image of the EP, and improving citizens' perceptions through greater activism by MEPs between elections. The good news from this book is that European Parliament elections are not doomed to some second-order league; it is all there to play for, given the right approach.
People and Parliament in the European Union: Participation, Democracy and Legitimacy by Jean Blondel, Richard Sinnott and Palle Svensson, published by Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-829308-9, 257 pp, £47.60.