Who follows the referendum campaign? The effect of political interest and media use in Bulgaria

Gherghina, S. and Bankov, P. (2020) Who follows the referendum campaign? The effect of political interest and media use in Bulgaria. Problems of Post-Communism, (doi: 10.1080/10758216.2020.1760722) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

The content of referendum campaigns and their effects on voters has been broadly covered in the literature. However, there is little information about who follows the campaigns. To address this gap in the literature our article analyzes what determines the people who vote in referendums to pay attention to the political campaign. The analysis focuses on the 2016 referendum in Bulgaria and uses individual-level data from an original survey. The findings indicate that high interest in politics and the use of traditional media increased the level of campaign following. Online news consumption and political participation had a lower positive effect.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Bankov, Dr Petar and Gherghina, Dr Sergiu
• Authors: Gherghina, S., and Bankov, P.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
• Journal Name: Problems of Post-Communism
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 1075-8216
• ISSN (Online): 1557-783X
• Published Online: 29 May 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
• First Published: First published in Problems of Post-Communism 2020
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy