Individual and contextual variation in EU issue voting: The role of political information

Increasing politicization in EU member states about European issues can be expected to strengthen the impact of attitudes towards Europe on vote choice in European Parliament (EP) elections. At the same time this impact is likely to vary between voters and contexts as a function of political information. This study explores the role of political information in explaining individual and contextual heterogeneity in the degree of EU issue voting. Using a two-step hierarchical estimation procedure to explore both individual and contextual variation, we show that while EU issue voting in the 2009 EP elections is only slightly more pronounced among the politically sophisticated, it is clearly more extensive in contexts that provide higher levels of political information on European matters.

Research highlights
► EU issue voting in EP elections is a wide-spread phenomenon by 2009.
► We find evidence of individual and contextual variation in EU issue voting in the 2009 EP elections.
► EU issue voting is only slightly more pronounced among the politically sophisticated.
► EU issue voting is more extensive in contexts providing high levels of EU-related information.