Redes sociais e participação eleitoral em Portugal

Abstract

This article addresses the effects of social networks on the propensity of electoral voters to vote. Various formal models have suggested that the decision to vote has to be seen as being dependent on decisions of the members of the social network to which the individual belongs. Using data gathered in two survey questionnaires after the parliamentary elections of 2005 and the presidential elections of 2006, this article suggests that, as with the option to vote, social networks have a huge influence on the decision to vote. Unlike the option to vote, however, the influence in this case is mainly normative rather than of an informational nature.