Transnational Partisanship and Networked Constituent Power in the EU. LEQS Paper No. 138/2018 October 2018

The constitutional politics of the European Union have been intensely debated in recent times. A key concern, voiced both within the academy and at street level, is how citizens could be endowed with the ability to shape, revise and legitimise evolving constitutional settlements. This paper begins by discussing recent accounts of ‘constituent power’ in the EU that seek to offer guidance in this respect. It argues that these accounts are normatively insightful but ultimately stop short of providing a viable model of constitutional agency. The remainder of the paper then aims to examine what such a model could look like, looking for inspiration to the muchneglected political practice of transnational partisanship. Specifically, the paper examines the transnationally coordinated constitution-making efforts of Christian Democratic partisans in the founding period of the EU, suggesting that there is much to learn from these efforts as far as EU constitutional politics is concerned

Austria after the presidential election: a country divided

Alexander Van der Bellen won Austria’s presidential election on 22 May, defeating Norbert Hofer, who would have become the EU’s first far-right head of state. Fabio Wolkenstein writes that a key turning point in the campaign was the resignation of Austria’s Chancellor, Werner Faymann, and that the country is now a divided one with the electorate split between two radically different visions of society

Austria’s presidential election: van der Bellen has won, but there is little reason for complacency

On 4 December, Alexander van der Bellen won Austria’s presidential election, defeating Norbert Hofer of the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria. Fabio Wolkenstein assesses the result, writing that although the populist right may be defeated for now, returning to ‘politics as usual’ would be a serious mistake for the country’s mainstream politicians

Norbert Hofer, the friendly face of Austria’s populist right

With his friendly, moderate appearance, the right-wing populist Norbert Hofer has come within a whisker of the Austrian presidency. In December a second rerun of the election will determine whether he can lead the Freedom Party (FPÖ) into power. Fabio Wolkenstein looks at the extraordinarily wide range of executive powers available to the Austrian president, including the right to dismiss the chancellor and government. Will Hofer take advantage of them, or will he continue to lead the FPÖ into the mainstream and possible victory in parliamentary elections

The Labour party, Momentum and the problem with intra-party democracy

The Momentum movement and the rise in Labour membership are, Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters argue, proof that the party is returning to its roots and embracing ordinary people’s concerns. But political scientists tend to be sceptical about intra-party democracy, because party members are usually more radical than the average voter. Fabio Wolkenstein says claims that Labour has reconnected with its “working-class core” are problematic, not least because the working class do not necessarily tack to the left – and indeed many have been attracted to Ukip

What Austria’s migrant crisis says about the country’s sovereignty

On 7 September the Austrian government announced its intention to phase out emergency measures that allowed thousands of migrants to travel from Hungary into Western Europe. Fabio Wolkenstein writes that the nature of the current crisis has necessitated abandoning the so-called Dublin Regulation, which establishes that asylum applications should go through the state where an applicant first entered the EU. However the removal of emergency measures raises interesting questions both in terms of what will now happen to those individuals seeking to enter Austria and in terms of the impact on domestic politics in the country

UKIP’s future hangs on the strength of its leadership, not its internal democracy

Nigel Farage has recently come under fire from an influential member from within his own party for his authoritarian style of leadership. But research suggests successful right-wing populist parties often have leaders with strong internal leadership qualities who exercise firm control over the party. In this article, Fabio Wolkenstein looks at examples from across Europe, which may provide lessons for UKIP

The political theory of parties

Political theory has for a long time paid scant attention to the topic of political parties and partisanship. In recent times, however, there has emerged a body of theoretical research that seeks to draw attention to the place of parties and partisanship in a well-functioning polity. This article offers an overview of this research, discussing approaches that focus on partisanship as an associative practice, on the one hand, and approaches that focus on the party as an institution, on the other. The article argues that, while the two approaches no doubt usefully complement each other, concentrating on partisanship at the expense of party risks paying insufficient attention to the institutional structures that ultimately connect partisans to the state and allow them to exercise power. This is problematic insofar as it is especially the party as institution whose virtues are currently called into question. Given this, the article proposes to shift the emphasis in theoretical research from partisanship-centred theories to party-centred theories

Membership ballots and the value of intra-party democracy

On the face of it, membership ballots present a clear case in which intra-party democ-racy comes into collision with core principles of representative democracy: they weaken the autonomy of representatives, and undermine the authority of the voters. In this article, I investigate whether this is correct, and whether membership ballots are, therefore, democratically illegitimate, using the controversial 2013 Mitgliederentscheid in the German Social Democratic party as a critical case. I argue that there is nothing democratically suspect about membership ballots and mount a defence of intra-party democracy as intrinsically valuable, appealing to a principle of equal respect for persons as autonomous agents. It turns out that endorsing this prin-ciple has two possible implications: that the content of the ballot must be open to de-liberation, and that these deliberations should be rendered open to non-members. I discuss these implications and offer some institutional design guidelines

The success of anti-system parties in the Austrian election reflects very real problems with political corruption

Austria’s elections on 29 September produced the worst electoral showing for the country’s two major parties, the SPÖ and ÖVP, since the end of the Second World War. As Fabio Wolkenstein writes, the main beneficiaries were smaller parties, particularly those articulating anti-system sentiments. Far from relying on empty rhetoric, however, he argues that the success of such parties reflects real problems with corruption in the Austrian political system. Chief amongst these is the role of party patronage in key appointments, which perpetuates inequality and allows corrupt practices to continue over time