The turnout of federal elections after 1989 in Germany decreased. In the 1980s average turnout was about 83%, however in the 1990s it decreased to 79,6% and to 78,4% in the 2000s. We can observe a similar development in other European countries. Turnouts were the highest in Luxemburg (91% in the last European elections) and Belgium (90,04%).

The reasons of low turnout are different but common for every country. In the early 1990s in Germany it depended on the new political situation. According to political scientist Prof. Dieter Roth from Heidelberg University, when the unification of Germany became a fact people thought that everything was decided and arranged, so they could not influence anything. Another reason is that citizens are dissatisfied with democracy, parties and political personnel.

But scientists say that it is very hard to find the accurate number of non-voters and their sociological structure. PD Dr. Dorothée de Nève said this is because people lie. The real turnout is almost always different from citizens’ declaration and it is almost always lower. They feel ashamed that they did not go and vote. And this is not a strange behaviour – it is common to reproach non-voters with their attitude.

But let us have a look at non-voters sine ira et studio. First of all, people think that the importance of elections is different on different levels. The newest research lead by Heidelberg University shows that more than 80% claimed that federal parliament elections are important while less than 60% said that European elections are important as well. According to Prof. Roth this is because people do not know enough about the European Parliament (EP). EP is complicated and they do not know that EP’s decisions have a big influence on local statements. Even journalists do not have enough information.

Comparing the turnout of the European level and the federal one it appears that the last one is estimated much higher in the hierarchy of importance. Until 2009 in Germany the turnout of European elections was less than 45% while turnout of national elections (2006) was almost 80%. National elections on the same day can also increase European elections’ turnout. In Lithuania, for example, the combination of national and European elections turnout was in 2009 27,5% higher than before.

The biggest problem is a lack of identification with parties. According to surveys presented by Prof. Roth party identification decreased from about 45% in 1976 to near 30% in 2008.
For the other political reasons considered by scientists it is not true that people are not interested in politics. They are just disappointed with political parties.

We spoke with Dutch journalist Laurens Boven and with some other people in Berlin (tourists, German people, young and old people). We asked a few questions and wrote a little summary of their answers.

Q. What do you think, who are the nonvoters in your country? Are there any special groups?

Most of peoples said that in their country there are no special groups. People don’t go and vote because they think that the politics is not important. It’s usually low educated people who don’t care about voting and these people think that politicians can’t change their life.

Q. Who is responsible to encourage people to go and vote?

They said that first of all family is really important because if they have traditions, this can influence young people’s attitudes. After that the level of education plays a role and the third thing is religion. But the media impress the world and the people. ???

Q. And what about school?

Laurens Boven: “Yes, school has a big influence, now we have a lot of projects about politics at school to teach children about voting. I think it’s good but most non-voters are between 21 and 25, and at this age a lot of these usually don’t go to school.”

Q. What do you think about the Europien Union (EU)?

People usually think that the EU is a good thing, because they have more possibilities, for example in the economy and in education. But other people said that the EU is not as good because it is too big. Therefore the media play a significant role in the life of the people.

Q. What do young people think about Dutch media?

Laurens Boven: “To be honest, people don’t mind. Politics is not as prominent here as in America. People are interested in the media only before the elections and they listen for just a few minutes. The youngest who are interested identify with a party.”

Q. What would you like to say to a non-voter?

Laurens Boven: “I don’t think non-voters are right to complain, and I think it isn’t good for democracy. In a democracy you do participate, vote to say: I DON’T LIKE YOU (THE POLITICANS) AND I AM NOT HAPPY!”