How does political socialization in a highly fragmented political scene affect propensity to vote? This article focusses on the long-term relationship between the number of political parties and the propensity to turn out in 96 parliamentary elections between 1996 and 2016 of nearly 100,000 individuals in 31 countries. Although intuitively more options might be expected to translate into a greater likelihood of participating in elections, existing research claims that high levels of party fragmentation instead lead to ‘choice overload’ and alienate citizens from voting. Building on the theory of voting as a habit, I show that early adulthood political socialization in a highly fragmented context leaves a footprint of non-voting in subsequent elections. This finding is especially relevant given the recent significant rise in fragmentation of most party systems in Europe, which in light of this research could mean a further decline in turnout rates in many countries in the future.
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