Effects of voting advice applications during election campaigns. Evidence from a panel study at the 2014 European elections

摘要

Over the last several years, Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) have become an indispensable part of election campaigns in many countries. VAAs are designed to increase the political sophistication of citizens. In this paper we test whether these tools can accomplish this mission. Resorting to self-generated panel data for the 2014 European Election in Germany, we use entropy balancing techniques to deal with the problem of self-selection into the treatment. In doing so, we try to disentangle causal dynamics and offer analyses that underpin the tools' effects on users' interest in the election campaign as well as on electoral participation. Regarding policy knowledge, however, no VAA effect can be found within our data.