Electoral Cycles and the Mobilizing Effects of Elections: A Longitudinal Study of the Swedish Case

In the theory and practice of democratic politics, elections are essential. Not only is voting the one activity that binds the individual to the political system, elections are also expected to mobilize people politically. Thus, the purpose of this article is to study the mobilizing effects of national elections, using Sweden as a case study. More specifically, this article investigates political interest, party identification, trust in political and media institutions, media consumption and satisfaction with the way democracy works through the electoral cycles between 1986 and 2004. The results indicate that elections do mobilize people politically, but not with regard to the media variables.