MELLANMÄNSKLIG TILLIT Det sociala kapitalets effekt på valdeltagande i Europaparlamentsvalet 2014

Abstract

Direct elections to the European Parliament have been held since 1979, but turnout rates have declined with each election. It is well established that socioeconomic factors play a part in individuals’ decision to participate in elections, but what can be said about social capital and the specific aspect of interpersonal trust? The aim of this thesis is to study if a higher level of interpersonal trust can have an effect on voter turnout to the European Parliament election, and if so, if a higher level of interpersonal trust can compensate for a lower level of socioeconomic status and effect voter turnout. The data used comes from The National SOMstudy 2014. The result show that a higher level of interpersonal trust indeed increases voter turnout. The study also comes to the conclusion that a higher level of interpersonal trust not can be said to compensate for lower levels of socioeconomic status, however, a higher level of interpersonal trust further increases the probability of individuals with stronger socioeconomic resources to participate in the election to the European Parliament.