TY - JOUR T1 - Psephology and pulmonology JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 589 LP - 591 DO - 10.1183/09031936.00104014 VL - 44 IS - 3 AU - Maeve Barry Y1 - 2014/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/3/589.abstract N2 - “Just because you do not take an interest in politics does not mean politics won't take an interest in you”PericlesEurope, in its various forms, has been voting since antiquity. From the golden Athenian age of Pericles to the austerity age of modern Europe, elections and their results continue to be anticipated, scrutinised and debated. This editorial focuses on the recent exercise from May22–25, 2014, when citizens of the European Union (EU) voted to elect the 8th legislature of the European Parliament.Psephology is the “the statistical study of elections and trends in voting” as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary (www.oed.com). These trends show that in May 2014, 43% of EU voters turned out to “act, react, and impact” [1]. Although there was an improvement compared with previous turnouts, it seems Pericles' warning has still not been heeded by the majority of EU voters. By contrast, those who did vote have already shaped the policies of the European Parliament for the coming years, which include those that affect pulmonology.According to the European Parliamentary Research Service, in the Parliament’s last term (2009–2014), it held 2821 meetings, conducted more than 23 500 votes, and adopted more than 19 000 amendments whilst rejecting even more [2]. Hardly surprising, therefore, that the European Parliament is one of three main institutions within the EU that is involved in EU legislation. It has been directly elected since 1979, and on this occasion 751 Members of the … ER -