Not a powerful electoral issue yet: on the role of European integration in the 2017 German federal election

This article explores the role of European integration in affecting voting behaviour in the 2017 German federal election. Building on a theoretical analysis of EU issue voting, it demonstrates that despite a list of issues on the European agenda, EU-related issues did not play a prominent role in the campaign, nor were issues primarily addressed from a European perspective. Relying on survey data collected before and after the election, the analysis demonstrates that voters perceived parties to differ considerably on EU integration, but they did not care much about it. Attitudes towards European integration and financial aid to EU member states were only mildly related to vote choice in the 2017 election. European integration thus has not yet become a powerful political issue in Germany. The paper concludes by discussing implications for EU issue voting in future German elections.

本文探究了欧洲一体化对2017年德国联邦选举投票行为的影响。基于欧盟议题投票的理论分析框架，本研究发现：尽管欧洲议事日程上存在多项议题，但与欧盟相关的议题在竞选活动中并未占据突出地位，且相关议题亦未主要从欧洲视角进行阐释。本研究依托选举前后采集的调查数据展开分析，结果显示，选民虽认为各政党在欧洲一体化议题上存在显著分歧，但自身对此类议题并不十分关注。在2017年的选举中，选民对欧洲一体化的态度以及对欧盟成员国的财政援助态度，仅与投票选择存在微弱关联。由此可见，欧洲一体化在德国尚未成为具备强大影响力的政治议题。本文最后探讨了欧盟议题投票对未来德国选举的启示，作为研究总结。