The “Wahl-O-Mat” in the course of the German Federal Election 2013 – Effects of a German VAA on users’ election-relevant political knowledge

Table of contents

Bibliographic information

Cover of Volume: ZPol Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft Volume 24 (2014), Edition 4
Full access

Journal of Political Science

Volume 24 (2014), Edition 4

Authors:
Publisher
Nomos, Baden-Baden
Publication year
2014
ISSN-Online
1430-6387
ISSN-Print
1430-6387

Chapter information

Full access

Volume 24 (2014), Edition 4

The “Wahl-O-Mat” in the course of the German Federal Election 2013 – Effects of a German VAA on users’ election-relevant political knowledge

Authors:
ISSN-Print
1430-6387
ISSN-Online
1430-6387
Preview:

Ideally, voters should be fully informed about party positions on important political issues and vote for the political party, which suits their own interests and ideas best. Yet, in general, political knowledge is quite low among the public. Moreover it is distributed unequally among social segments. Therefore the legitimacy of representative democracy is challenged. The German “Wahl-O-Mat” aims at informing the electorate on party positions and at fostering “correct voting”. During the campaign for the Bundestag election 2013 the “Wahl-O-Mat” was used more than 10 million times.In this article we ask in how far the “Wahl-O-Mat” contributes to voters’ political knowledge on parties’ positions on selected political issues. Our analysis is based on an online pre-experimental design conducted two weeks before the election. The main results show that using the “Wahl-O-Mat” increases knowledge on party positions, but only to a small degree. Besides improvements of information levels, the number of “don’t know”-answers also rises. The degree to which individuals are able to learn depends strongly on pre-existing knowledge levels. The latter in turn are determined by motivation and resources.

Bibliography

  1. Althaus, Scott L., 1998: Information Effects in Collective Preferences, in: American Political Science Review 92 (3), 545-558. Open Google Scholar
  2. Alvarez, R. Michael/Levin, Ines/Mair, Peter/Trechsel, Alexander, 2014: Party preferences in the digital age: The impact of voting advice applications. in: Party Politics 20 (2), 227-236. Open Google Scholar
  3. Andreadis, Ioannis/Wall, Matthew, 2014: The Impact of Voting Advice Applications on Vote Choice, in: Diego Garzia/Stefan Marschall (Eds.), Matching Voters with Parties and Candidates. Voting Advice Applications in a Comparative Perspective, Colchester, 115-128. Open Google Scholar
  4. Arzheimer, Kai/Schmitt, Annette, 2014: Der ökonomische Ansatz, in: Jürgen W. Falter/Harald Schoen (Eds.), Handbuch Wahlforschung, Wiesbaden, 241-329. Open Google Scholar
  5. Ausubel, David P., 2000: The Acquisition and Retention of Knowledge: a Cognitive View, Dordrecht/Boston. Open Google Scholar
  6. Bartels, Larry M., 1996: Uninformed Votes. Information Effects in Presidential Elections, in: American Journal of Political Science 40 (1), 194-230. Open Google Scholar
  7. Beck, Ulrich, 2003: Risikogesellschaft: auf dem Weg in eine andere Moderne, Frankfurt a. M. Open Google Scholar
  8. Bennett, Stephen E., 1996: “Know-Nothings” Revisited Again, in: Political Behavior 18 (3), 219-233. Open Google Scholar
  9. Berelson, Bernard/Lazarsfeld, Paul F./McPhee, William, 1954: Voting: A Study of Opinion Formation in a Presidential Campaign, Chicago. Open Google Scholar
  10. Bhatti, Yosef, 2010: What would happen if we were better informed? Simulating increased knowledge in European Parliament (EP) elections, in: Representation 46 (4), 391-410. Open Google Scholar
  11. Butler, David/Stokes, Donald E., 1969: Political Change in Britain: Forces Shaping Electoral Choice, New York. Open Google Scholar
  12. Campbell, Angus/Converse, Philip E./Miller, Warren E./Stokes, Donald E., 1960: The American Voter, New York. Open Google Scholar
  13. Campbell, Angus/Gurin, Gerald/Miller, Warren E., 1954: The Voter Decides, Evanston u. a. Open Google Scholar
  14. Campbell, Donald T./Stanley, Julian C., 1966: Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research, Chicago. Open Google Scholar
  15. Dalton, Russel J./Wattenberg, Martin P., 2000: Parties without Partisans: Political Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies; Oxford. Open Google Scholar
  16. Delli Carpini, Michael X./Keeter, Scott, 1996: What Americans know about politics and why it matters, New Haven. Open Google Scholar
  17. Downs, Anthony, 1957: An Economic Theory of Democracy, New York. Open Google Scholar
  18. Esser, Frank, 1999: Tabloidization of News. A Comparative Analyses of Anglo-American and German Press Journalism, in: European Journal of Communication 14 (3), 291-324. Open Google Scholar
  19. Festinger, Leon, 1989: A theory of cognitive dissonance, Stanford. Open Google Scholar
  20. Fiske, Susan/Taylor Shelley, 1991: Social Cognition, New York. Open Google Scholar
  21. Franklin, Mark N./Mackie, Thomas T./Valen, Henry, 1992: Electoral Change: Responses to Evolving Social and Attitudinal Structures in Western Societies, Cambridge. Open Google Scholar
  22. Garzia, Diego, 2010: The Effects of VAAs on Users’ Voting Behaviour: An Overview, in: Lorella Cedroni/Diego Garzia (Eds.), Voting Advice Applications in Europe. The State of the Art, Neapel, 13-33. Open Google Scholar
  23. Garzia, Diego/Marschall, Stefan, 2012: Voting Advice Applications under review: the state of research, in: International Journal of Electronic Governance 5 (3-4), 203-222. Open Google Scholar
  24. Garzia, Diego/de Angelis, Andrea/Pianzola, Joelle, 2014: The Impact of Voting Advice Applications on Electoral Participation, in: Diego Garzia/Stefan Marschall (Eds.), Matching Voters with Parties and Candidates. Voting Advice Applications in a Comparative Perspective, Colchester, 105-114. Open Google Scholar
  25. Hagen, Lutz M., 2005: Konjunkturnachrichten, Konjunkturklima und Konjunktur, Köln. Open Google Scholar
  26. Jerit, Jennifer/Barabas, Jason/Bolsen, Toby, 2006: Citizens, Knowledge, and the Information Environment, in: American Journal of Political Science 50 (2), 266-282. Open Google Scholar
  27. Kepplinger, Hans Mathias/Weißbecker, Helga, 1991: Negativität als Nachrichtenideologie, in: Publizistik 36 (3), 330-342. Open Google Scholar
  28. Kleinnijenhuis, Jan/Krouwel, Andre, 2007: The Nature and Influence of Party Profiling Websites. Paper presented at the conference Politicologenetmaal, Nijmegen, 29.-30. May 2007. Open Google Scholar
  29. Kraft, Patrick, 2012: Correct Voting in Deutschland. Eine Analyse der Qualität individueller Wahlentscheidungen bei der Bundestagswahl 2009, in: Working Papers - Mannheimer Zentrum für Europäische Sozialforschung 148. Open Google Scholar
  30. Kuklinski, James H./Quirk, Paul J./Jerit, Jennifer/Rich, Robert F., 2001: The Political Environment and Citizen Competence, in: American Journal of Political Science 45 (2), 410-424. Open Google Scholar
  31. Ladner, Andreas/Felder, Gabriela/Fivaz, Jan, 2010: More than toys? A first assessment of voting advice applications in Switzerland, in: Lorella Cedroni/Diego Garzia (Eds.), Voting Advice Applications in Europe. The State of the Art, Neapel, 91-124. Open Google Scholar
  32. Lau, Richard R./Andersen, David J./Redlawsk, David P., 2008: An Exploration of Correct Voting in Recent U.S. Presidential Elections, in: American Journal of Political Science 52 (2), 395-411. Open Google Scholar
  33. Lau, Richard R./Redlawsk, David P., 1997: Voting Correctly, in: The American Political Science Review 91 (3), 585-598. Open Google Scholar
  34. Luskin, Robert C., 1990: Explaining Political Sophistication, in: Political Behavior 12 (4), 331-361. Open Google Scholar
  35. Maier, Jürgen, 2009: Was die Bürger über Politik (nicht) wissen - und was die Massenmedien damit zu tun haben - ein Forschungsüberblick, in: Frank Marcinkowski/Barbara Pfetsch (Eds.), Politik in der Mediendemokratie (PVS Special Issue 42), Wiesbaden, 393-414. Open Google Scholar
  36. Maier, Jürgen/Glantz, Alexander/Bathelt, Severin, 2009: Was wissen die Bürger über Politik? Zur Erforschung der politischen Kenntnisse in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1949 bis 2008, in: Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen 3, 561-579. Open Google Scholar
  37. Marschall, Stefan, 2005: Idee und Wirkung des Wahl-O-Mat, in: Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte 55 (51-52), 41-46. Open Google Scholar
  38. Marschall, Stefan. 2011: Wahlen, Wähler, Wahl-O-Mat, in: Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte (4), 40-46. Open Google Scholar
  39. Marschall, Stefan/Schultze, Martin, 2012: Normalisierung oder Mobilisierung? Die Auswirkungen politischer Online-Kommunikation auf die Wahlbeteiligung am Beispiel einer Internet-Applikation zur Bundestagswahl 2009, in: Politische Vierteljahresschrift 53 (3), 444-466. Open Google Scholar
  40. Marschall, Stefan/Garzia, Diego, 2014: Voting Advice Applicatons in a Comparative Perspective: An Introduction, in: Diego Garzia/Stefan Marschall (Eds.), Matching Voters with Parties and Candidates. Voting Advice Applications in a Comparative Perspective, Colchester, 1-10. Open Google Scholar
  41. Marschall, Stefan/Schmidt, Christian K., 2010: The Impact of Voting Indicators: The Case of the German Wahl-O-Mat, in: Lorella Cedroni/Diego Garzia (Eds.), Voting Advice Applications in Europe. The State of the Art, Napoli, 65-90. Open Google Scholar
  42. Marschall, Stefan/Schultze, Martin, 2012: Normalisierung oder Mobilisierung? Die Auswirkungen politischer Online-Kommunikation auf die Wahlbeteiligung am Beispiel einer Internet-Applikation zur Bundestagswahl 2009, in: Politische Vierteljahresschrift 53 (3), 444-466. Open Google Scholar
  43. Maurer, Marcus, 2009: Wissensvermittlung in der Mediendemokratie. Wie Medien und politische Akteure die Inhalte von Wahlprogrammen kommunizieren, in: Frank Marcinkowski/Barbara Pfetsch (Eds.), Politik in der Mediendemokratie, Wiesbaden, 151-173. Open Google Scholar
  44. Mondak, Jeffery J./Anderson, Mary R., 2004: The Knowledge Gap: A Reexamination of Gender-Based Differences in Political Knowledge, in: The Journal of Politics 66 (2), 492-512. Open Google Scholar
  45. Mykkänen, Juri/Moring, Tom, 2006: Dealigned Politics Comes of Age? The Effects of Online Candidate Selectors on Finnish Voters. Paper presented at the conference Politics on the Internet: New Forms and Media for Political Action, Tampere, 25.11.2006. Open Google Scholar
  46. Nie, Norman/Junn, Jane/Stehlik-Barry, Kenneth, 1996: Education and Democratic Citizenship in America, Chicago. Open Google Scholar
  47. Otto, Hans-Uwe/Kutscher, Nadia, 2004: Soziale Differenzen und informelle Bildung m virtuellen Raum, in: Hans-Uwe Otto/Nadia Kutscher (Eds.), Informelle Bildung Online. Perspektiven für Bildung, Jugendarbeit und Medienpädagogik, Weinheim/München, 7-22. Open Google Scholar
  48. Pianzola, Joelle, 2011: The Interplay between Political Knowledge and VAA Use and its Effect on Voting Behavior. Paper presented at the conference Etmaal 2011, Amsterdam, 09.-10.6.2011. Open Google Scholar
  49. Quiring, Oliver, 2004: Die Fernsehberichterstattung über die Arbeitslosigkeit und ihr Einfluss auf wahlrelevante Vorstellungen der Bevölkerung. Eine Zeitreihenanalyse, in: Publizistik 48 (1), 1-24. Open Google Scholar
  50. Rudi, Tatjana, 2011: Sachthemen und politische Streitfragen, in: Hans Rattinger/Sigrid Roßteutscher/Rüdiger Schmitt-Beck/Bernhard Weßels (Eds.), Zwischen Langeweile und Extremen: Die Bundestagswahl 2009, Baden-Baden, 179-190. Open Google Scholar
  51. Rudi, Tatjana/Schoen, Harald, 2013: Verwählt? Eine Analyse des Konzepts "korrektes Wählen" bei der Bundestagswahl 2009, in: Bernhard Wessels/Harald Schoen/Oscar W. Gabriel (Eds.), Wahlen und Wähler. Analysen aus Anlass der Bundestagswahl 2009, Wiesbaden, 407-425. Open Google Scholar
  52. Ruusurvita, Outi/Rosema, Martin, 2009: Do online vote selectors influence electoral participation and the direction of the vote? Paper presented at the ECPR General Conference, Potsdam, 10.-12.9.2009. Open Google Scholar
  53. Schmitt-Beck, Rüdiger/Weick, Stefan, 2001: Die dauerhafte Parteiidentifikation - nur noch ein Mythos? Eine Längsschnittanalyse zur Identifikation mit politischen Parteien in West- und Ostdeutschland, in: Informationsdienst Soziale Indikatoren 26, 1-5. Open Google Scholar
  54. Schoen, Harald, 2005: Ist Wissen auch an der Wahlurne Macht? Politische Kompetenz und Wahlverhalten, in: Siegfried Schumann/Harald Schoen (Eds.), Persönlichkeit. Eine vergessene Größe der empirischen Sozialforschung, Wiesbaden, 137-155. Open Google Scholar
  55. Schoen, Harald/Weins, Cornelia, 2014: Der sozialpsychologische Ansatz zur Erklärung von Wahlverhalten, in: Jürgen W. Falter/Harald Schoen (Eds.), Handbuch Wahlforschung. Wiesbaden, 241-329. Open Google Scholar
  56. Schultze, Martin, 2014: Effects of Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) on Political Knowledge about Party Positions, in: Policy & Internet 6 (1), 46-68. Open Google Scholar
  57. Stroh, Patrick K., 1995: Voters as Pragmatic Cognitive Misers: The Accuracy Effort Trade-off in the Candidate Evaluation Process, in: Milton Lodge/Kathleen M. McGraw (Eds.), Political Judgment, Ann Arbor, 229-228. Open Google Scholar
  58. Taber, Charles S./Lodge, Milton, 2006: Motivated Skepticism in the Evaluation of Political Beliefs, in: American Journal of Political Science 50 (3), 755-769. Open Google Scholar
  59. Tichenor, Philip J./Donohue, George A./Olien, Clarice N., 1970: Mass Media Flow and Differential Growth in Knowledge, in: The Public Opinion Quarterly 34 (2), 159-170. Open Google Scholar
  60. Toffler, Alvin, 1971: Future shock, New York. Open Google Scholar
  61. Van de Pol, Jasper/Holleman, Bregje/Kamoen, Naomi/Krouwel, André/de Vreese, Claes, 2014: Beyond Young, Highly Educated Males: A Typology of VAA Users, in: Journal of Information Technology & Politics 11 (4), 397-411 (accessible via http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2014.958794). Open Google Scholar
  62. Vetter, Angelika/Maier, Jürgen, 2005: Mittendrin statt nur dabei? Politisches Wissen, politisches Interesse und politisches Kompetenzgefühl in Deutschland, 1994-2002, in: Oscar W. Gabriel/Jürgen W. Falter/Hans Rattinger (Eds.), Wächst zusammen, was zusammengehört? Stabilität und Wandel politischer Einstellungen im wiedervereinigten Deutschland. Baden-Baden, 51-90. Open Google Scholar
  63. Walgrave, Stefaan/Nuytemans, Michiel/Pepermans, Koen, 2009: Voting Aid Applications and the Effect of Statement Selection, in: West European Politics 32 (6), 1161-1180. Open Google Scholar
  64. Walgrave, Stefaan/van Aelst, Peter/Nuytemans, Michiel, 2008: "Do the Vote Test": The Electoral Effects of a Popular Vote Advice Application at the 2004 Belgian Elections, in: Acta Politica 43 (1), 50-70. Open Google Scholar
  65. Wall, Matthew/Krouwel, Andre/Vitiello, Thomas, 2014: Do voters follow the recommendations of voter advice application websites? A study of the effects of kieskompas.nl on its users’ vote choices in the 2010 Dutch legislative elections, in: Party Politics 20 (3), 416-428. Open Google Scholar
  66. Westle, Bettina, 2005: Politisches Wissen und Wahlen, in: Jürgen W. Falter/Oscar W. Gabriel/Bernhard Weßels (Eds.), Wahlen und Wähler. Analysen aus Anlass der Bundestagswahl 2002, Wiesbaden, 484-512. Open Google Scholar
  67. Westle, Bettina, 2009a: Politisches Wissen als Grundlage der Entscheidung bei der Bundestagswahl 2005, in: Steffen Kühnel/Oskar Niedermayer/Bettina Westle (Eds.), Wähler in Deutschland, sozialer und politischer Wandel, Gender und Wahlverhalten, Wiesbaden, 366-398. Open Google Scholar
  68. Westle, Bettina, 2009b: "Die unpolitische Frau" - Ein Methodenartefakt der Umfrageforschung?, in: Hannah Kaspar/Harald Schoen/Siegfried Schumann/Jürgen R. Winkler (Eds.), Politik - Wissenschaft - Medien. Festschrift für Jürgen W. Falter zum 65. Geburstag, Wiesbaden, 179-201. Open Google Scholar
  69. Westle, Bettina, 2011: Politisches Wissen in Deutschland. Ein Vergleich von Bürgern mit türkischem Migrationshintergrund und einheimischen Deutschen, in: Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen 42 (4), 835-850. Open Google Scholar
  70. Westle, Bettina, 2012: Souveräne Teilhabe unter Unsicherheit und Halbwissen: Politisches Wissen und politische Partizipation, in: Stephan Braun/Alexander Geisler (Eds.), Die verstimmte Demokratie. Moderne Volksherrschaft zwischen Aufbruch und Frustration, Wiesbaden, 51-68. Open Google Scholar

Citation

Download RIS Download BibTex

Downloads

Download chapter (PDF)

Share via email

Media