7 research outputs found
Introduction: social media, politics and democracy in the post-transition Central and Eastern Europe
Book Introductio
Migrants during Halftime: the framing of Hungarian political news during the FIFA World Cup
This time it’s different? Effects of the Eurovision Debate on young citizens and its consequence for EU democracy:Evidence from a quasi-experiment in 24 countries
Faithful confidants or fickle coat-changers? Audience’s perceptions of celebrities in political campaigns before the first direct presidential election in the Czech Republic
Voting in the Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is not only the largest song contest worldwide but also probably the world’s largest election for a non-political office. In this article, we are interested in the voting behaviour of Eurovision viewers. Do they vote sincerely, strategically according to rational choice assumptions (i.e. for the song they believe will be the likely winner) or for another song? Using data from a large-scale survey carried out in Europe, we find interesting voting patterns with regard to these questions. Roughly one-fourth of the survey participants would vote for either their preferred song or for the song they think will win. However, the percentage of strategic voters is lower (11%). In contrast, many individuals (i.e. 36% of participants) would vote for another song, one that is neither their preferred song, the likely winner, nor a rational choice. The reasoning behind these remaining votes may include neighbourhood voting, ethnic voting, and voting for one’s favourite European country