Title: Voter advice applications in practice: answers to some key questions from Turkey

Authors: Ali Çarkoğlu; Thomas Vitiello; Mert Moral

Addresses: Koç Universitesi, Department of International Relations, Rumelifeneri Yolu, 34450, Sariyer Istanbul, Turkey ' Sabanci Universitesi - FASS 2090, Orhanli - Tuzla, 34956 Istanbul, Turkey ' Department of Political Science, Binghamton University, P.O. Box 6000, Binghamton, NY, USA

Abstract: This paper investigates the effects of the media promotion of the Turkish Voter Advice Application website (www.oypusulasi.org) during the 2011 Turkish Parliamentary elections. The research design combines data on the dates and medium used for the promotion of the VAA with statistical data on the number of connections received, the recommendations by users, and the user's propensity to vote for each individual party. By running a multiple-interrupted time series model, we find that there is a double-screen effect in the promotion campaign. In fact, the VAA was promoted through traditional media, such as television and newspapers, and through Internet-based communications. We also find that the political parallelism that characterises the Turkish media system has an important impact on the composition of the users, as voters who support conservative parties were only attracted to the website when it was mentioned in conservative media.

Keywords: voter advice applications; VAAs; election campaigning; political parallelism; statistical analysis; Turkey; e-democracy; national elections; electoral behaviour; electoral impact; internet; voting aid applications; electronic democracy; electoral campaigns; time series modelling; Turkish media.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEG.2012.051307

International Journal of Electronic Governance, 2012 Vol.5 No.3/4, pp.298 - 317

Received: 14 Mar 2012
Accepted: 19 Sep 2012
Published online: 04 Jan 2013 *

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