Voters and Voting in Context Multiple Contexts and the Heterogeneous German Electorate

Voters and Voting in Context investigates the role of context in affecting political opinion formation and voting behaviour. Building on a model of contextual effects on individual-level voter behaviour, the chapters of this volume explore contextual effects in Germany in the early twenty-first century.

The volume draws upon manifold combinations of individual and contextual information gathered in the German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES) framework and employ advanced methods. In substantive terms, it investigates the impact of campaign communication on political learning, effects of media coverage on the perceived importance of political problems, and the role of electoral competition on candidate strategies and perceptions. It also examines the role of social and economic contexts as well as parties' policy stances in affecting electoral turnout. The volume explores the impact of social cues on candidate voting, effects of electoral arenas on vote functions, the role of media coverage on ideological voting, and effects of campaign communication on the timing of electoral decision-making.

Voters and Voting in Context demonstrates the key role of the processes of communication and politicization in bringing about contextual effects. Context thus plays a nuanced role in voting behaviour. The contingency of contextual effects suggests that they will become an important topic in research on political behaviour and democratic politics.

Harald Schoen, Professor of Political Science, University of Mannheim,Sigrid Rossteutscher, Full Professor of Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main.,Rudiger Schmitt-Beck, Professor of Political Science, University of Mannheim,Bernhard Wessels, Senior Fellow, WZB Berlin Social Science Centre, and Professor of Political Science, Humboldt-University Berlin, ,Christof Wolf, President of GESIS Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences , and Professor of Sociology, University of Mannheim,

Harald Schoen is Professor of Political Science, University of Mannheim. He is one of the principle investigators of the German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES) funded by the German Science Foundation. He has widely published on political behaviour, political psychology, public opinion, and political online communication.

Sigrid Rossteutscher is Professor of Sociology in the Department of Social Sciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main. Her research interests focus on politics and religion, social capital, political participation, electoral turnout, and social inequality. Her publications include Citizenship and Democracy in an Era of Crisis (co-edited with Thomas Poguntke, Rudiger Schmitt-Beck, and Sonja Zmerli, Routledge, 2015).

Rudiger Schmitt-Beck is Professor of Political Science, University of Mannheim. His research focuses on electoral behaviour and political communication. His publications include Voters on the Move or on the Run? (co-edited with Bernhard Wessels, Hans Rattinger, and Sigrid Rossteutscher, Routledge, 2014).

Bernhard Wessels is a Senior Fellow at the WZB Berlin Social Science Centre and Professor of Political Science, Humboldt-University Berlin. He is one of the principle investigators of the German Longitudinal Election Study funded by the German Science Foundation, and was member of the Planning Committee of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) from 1998 to 2014. He has widely published on electoral behaviour, interest intermediation, and political representation nationally and internationally. His publications include Voters on the Move or on the Run? (co-edited with RudigerSchmitt-Beck, Hans Rattinger, and Sigrid Rossteutscher, Routledge, 2014).


Christof Wolf is President of GESIS Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences and Professor for Sociology, University of Mannheim. His research interests currently focus on social stratification, research methods, and research infrastructures. His publications include The Handbook of Survey Methodology (co-edited with Dominique Joye, Tom W. Smith, and Yang-Chi Fu, Sage, 2016).

1. Voters and Voting in Context: An Introduction, Harald Schoen, Sigrid Rossteutscher, Rudiger Schmitt-Beck, Bernhard Wessels, and Christof Wolf
2. Agenda-setting Dynamics During the Campaign Period, Julia Partheymuller
3. ust Like Leaves in the Wind? Exploring the Interplay of Media Coverage and Personal Characteristics in Affecting Issue Salience, Agatha Rudnik and Harald Schoen
4. TV Debates in Medial Contexts: How and When Do TV Debates Have an Effect on Learning Processes?, Aiko Wagner and Elena Werner
5. Electoral Competition, Candidates' Campaign Styles, and the Personalization of the Vote, Bernhard Wessels
6. A Vicious Circle of Demobilization? Context Effects on Turnout at the 2009 and 2013 German Federal Elections, Anne Schafer and Rudiger Schmitt-Beck
7. Economic Performance and Turnout in Regional Perspective: A Multilevel Analysis of German Districts, Andre Forster and Malte Kaukal
8. When the World Around you is Changing: Investigating the Influence of Alienation and Indifference on Voter Turnout, Alexander Wuttke
9. Not Second-Order, but Still Second-Rate? Patterns of Electoral Behavior in German State Elections, Heiko Giebler
10. Candidate Perception and Individual Vote Choice: The Role of Social Cues, Sigrid Rossteutscher, Ina Bieber, Lars-Christopher Stovsand, and Manuela Blumenberg
11. Ideological Voting in Context: The Case of Germany During the Merkel Era, Matthias Mader and Harald Schoen
12. Always Late? Stability and Change in Individuals' Time of Vote Decisions, Maria Preissinger
13. Conclusion, Harald Schoen, Sigrid Rossteutscher, Rudiger Schmitt-Beck, Bernhard Wessels, and Christof Wolf