2014 European parliament election campaigning and coverage in the media: case of Lithuania

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Agitacija; ES; Europos Parlamentas; Kampanija; Rinkimai; Agitation; Campaign; EU; Elections; European Parliament; European Union; Europos Sąjunga (European Union).

ENThe European Parliament (EP) Elections represent a rather interesting case for election analysis. As Strömbäck J., Maier M., and Kaid L. L. (2011) pointed, they are both national and European at the same time. However, despite the massive changes from the first direct EP elections in 1979, there remains one constant: the relative unimportance of the European elections. The EP elections research data shows that parties and candidates, as well as the media and voters tend to treat EP elections as second order national elections. The second-order nature and lack of European content in EP elections is related to the failure of political parties to campaign on European issues (Norris, 1997). By campaigning weakly, parties contribute to second-order patterns such as the decreasing turnout in EP elections. By focusing their campaigns on domestic rather than on European issues, parties turn these elections into national (Jalali and Silva, 2011). In 2014 Lithuania holds the third EP elections (the first were held in 2004 and the second in 2009). The first two election campaigns confirmed the theory of second order national elections. Lithuania, having the experience of 10 years’ membership in the EU, may expect some changes in campaigning.Therefore, the aim of this paper is to answer the research question – what issues dominate the EP campaign and whether the Lithuanian political parties’ and candidates’ campaigns in 2014 EP elections focus more on national issues and actors, rather than on European issues. In order to answer the question, analysis of information published in news media portals is performed by focusing the analysis on the media coverage of EP elections and opinions and advertisements of the candidates to the EP, posted on the political parties’ websites and presented in the media. The coverage should provide the information on how active is the EP Elections campaign, and positioning of the issues should reveal what issues – national or European – dominate in the campaigning. [From the publication]