This volume investigates the reasons behind voter turnout inequalities in contemporary Europe. It looks at the socioeconomic factors that can inhibit electoral participation at the individual level, and how these factors interact with the institutional constraints regulating access to the electoral arena, and considering the changes affecting the class system and occupational opportunities. The volume also reflects on the long-term effects of the 2008 Great Recession on the stability of democracy and the individual lives of voters, who are often deprived of institutional representation and left with the choice between anti-system protest and disengagement from politics.

Dario Tuorto is Associate Professor in Sociology at the Department of Education, University of Bologna, Italy. His main research interests are social and political inequalities, populism, party activism, electoral and political participation, with a focus on age and gender differences. He is a member of Italian National Election Studies. He published two books on turnout and several articles in international journals such as Party Politics, Political Geography, Social Politics, Contemporary Italian Politics. He is one of the founders of the Institute Cattaneo-Prospex archive on turnout (based on a large sample of 100 sections of Italian voters).

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Voter turnout and imperfect inclusivity: a democratic problem.- Chapter 3. Turnout and socio-economic inequality at the individual level.- Chapter 4. The institutional determinants of turnout inequalities.- Chapter 5. Voting in times of crisis. From opting out to regaining a voice