An integrated model of national party response to European integration

'Institutionelle und rechtliche Veränderungen im Rahmen der Europäischen Union bilden den 'europäischen Kontext' nationaler Politik. Vor dem Hintergrund der Europäisierungsdebatte untersucht der vorliegende Beitrag, inwiefern dieser Kontext zu Veränderungen in der politischen Programmatik und/oder im organisatorischen Aufbau nationaler politischer Parteien führt. Studien zur Europäisierung politischer Parteien sind bislang nicht ausreichend mit allgemeinen Theorien zum Wandel politischer Parteien in Verbindung gebracht worden. Der Beitrag zieht daher solche Theorien heran, um die Europäisierung politischer Parteien theoretisch zu fassen. Er entwirft ein theoretisches Modell, das erklärt, wie politische Parteien auf die institutionellen und rechtlichen Herausforderungen der europäischen Integration reagieren. Das Modell unterscheidet verschiedene Ebenen der Europäisierung politischer Parteien (Bewusstsein und Handlung) und hebt die Bedeutung innerparteilicher Machtbeziehungen sowie unterschiedliche Arten von Parteizielsetzungen als vermittelnde Faktoren hervor.' (Autorenreferat)'Developments in the policy and polity dimensions of European integration constitute the 'European context' of national politics. The present paper contributes to the broader debates on Europeanization by exploring whether and to what extent this context induces political party (policy and/or organizational) change. To date, research on the Europeanization of political parties has not yet been sufficiently linked to the general theories of party change. Hence, the paper theoretically embeds the study of political party Europeanization into extant theories of party change. It constructs a model accounting for variation in party response to the institutional and policy challenges brought about by European integration. The model distinguishes between different levels of party Europeanization (Awareness and Action) and stresses the role of intra-party power relations as well as primary party goals as important mediating factors.' (author's abstract

A nationalist alliance in the European Parliament would be more effective if it were framed around left/right issues, rather than immigration or Euroscepticism

Marine Le Pen, of the Front National, and Geert Wilders, of the Netherlands’ Party for Freedom, have announced their intention to form an alliance with several parties across Europe after the European Parliament elections. But how should such an alliance be structured? Zoe Lefkofridi presents an analysis of the coherence of potential members of a new nationalist bloc on three different issues: European integration, immigration, and left/right issues. She finds that the greatest level of coherence is shown between these parties on left/right issues. Framing the alliance around this dimension would therefore make for a more effective force in the Parliament

Why European integration remains the best option for meeting the challenges posed by globalisation

Faced with a debt crisis in Greece and a refugee crisis on Europe’s borders, the European Union is currently navigating one of the most difficult periods in its history. But do these crises offer justification for scaling back European integration? Lukas Hakelberg and Zoe Lefkofridi write that more integration not only offers the most natural solution for resolving these issues, but also remains the best mechanism for managing the wider challenges posed by globalisation

Shifting dynamics: Mapping the divisions between and within party groups in the European Parliament ahead of the 2019 elections

Party competition in the European Parliament has changed substantially in the aftermath of the Eurozone and migration crises. While the parliament was once characterised by a split between parties on the left and right, parties are also now sharply divided over their policies on immigration and European integration. Drawing on new research, Alexia Katsanidou and Zoe Lefkofridi illustrate how these shifting dynamics have affected the coherence of European party groups and the competition between them ahead of the 2019 European Parliament elections

Battles fought in the EP arena: developments in national parties' Euromanifestos

'Aufgrund der fortschreitenden europäischen Integration seit den 1990er Jahren wird die nationale Politik unvermeidlich immer öfters mit dem Thema 'Europa' konfrontiert. Der Forschungsbereich 'Europäisierung' konzentriert sich daher darauf die Effekte von europäischer Integration auf nationale politische Systeme, ihre Institutionen und Akteure zu untersuchen. Innerhalb dieses Forschungszweiges interessiert die Autoren nun das Verhalten der nationalen Parteien im Zuge von Wahlen zum Europäischen Parlament (EP). Anhand von nationalem Parteienwettbewerb bei EP-Wahlen untersuchen sie empirisch, ob Parteien einem Re-Politisierungs-Prozess unterliegen, indem sie die EP-Arena dazu nutzen, um über Europa und europäische Politikfelder zu diskutieren. Folgende Forschungsfragen leiten dabei ihr Interesse: Welche Art von Wahlkämpfen können in der EP-Arena beobachtet werden? Finden die Wahldebatten in einem europäischen oder nationalen Kontext statt? Außerdem: Was sind die Inhalte dieses Wettbewerbs in der EP-Arena? Welche Themen dominieren die EP-Wahldebatten in den verschiedenen Mitgliedstaaten der EU und welche Positionen vertreten die Parteien dabei? Die Autoren untersuchen nationale Parteien in unterschiedlichen EU-Mitgliedstaaten über Zeit, um deren Salienz sowie ihre Positionen gegenüber europäischen policy- und polity-Bereichen zu erfassen. Sie verwenden als Daten die Europawahlprogramme der österreichischen, britischen, niederländischen, griechischen, spanischen und schwedischen Parteien zu den EP-Wahlen 1994/1996, 1999 und 2004. Ihre Untersuchungen ergeben, dass eine Europäisierung von Parteien nur teilweise stattgefunden hat.' (Autorenreferat)'Since the 19905, European integration has deepened and widened to an extent that national politics can hardly ignore Europe. For this reason, the blossoming Europeanization research explores the effects of European integration on national political systems, as well as institutions and actors therein. Seeking to contribute to this research, the authors are interested in the behavior of national parties in EP elections. They focus on national party contestation in these elections to investigate empirically whether parties use the EP arena for debating Europe and European policies. More specifically, they ask: what kind of battles do national parties fight in the EP arena? Do national parties conduct their electoral debate in a European or a national context? In addition, what is the content of contestation in the EP arena? Which issue domains dominate the EP electoral debate in different member states of the EU? Moreover, what are parties' positions on these issues? To answer these questions, the authors observe national parties in different EU member states over time and analyze salience of Europe as well as the positions these actors adopt on European policy and polity issues. For this purpose, they use data from Austrian, British, Dutch, Greek, Spanish and Swedish Euromanifestos in the elections of 1994/1996, 1999 and 2004. They conclude by stating that party Europeanization has only partially taken place.' (author's abstract)

Parliaments, Public Opinion and Parliamentary Elections in Europe

The contributions collected in this Max Weber Working Papers Special Issue were first delivered at a conference held at the European University Institute and jointly organised by the Max Weber Programme for Postdoctoral Studies and the Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies in March 2015 on \u2018Parliaments and parliamentary elections in Europe\u2019. Following the transformations undertaken by the European and national parliaments after the Treaty of Lisbon, the 2014 European elections, the unprecedented politicization and the challenges posed to representative democracy by the Eurozone crisis, the Special Issue aims to investigate three intertwined themes. (I) Parliamentary representation: European and national at the same time?; (II) national parliaments in EU policymaking; and (III) dynamics of Euroscepticism and its effects on law-making. In particular the papers deal with the ability of parliaments to democratically represent people in the European Union today and to affect the European integration process, with the asymmetric involvement of national parliaments in the EU, their dynamics of cooperation as well as between them and the European Parliament, and finally, with the implications on EU democratic legitimacy of recent developments regarding parliamentary input provided at a very early stage of the European policymaking. Other issues, such as transposition and the representation of eurosceptics in the European Parliament are also dealt with

"An Integrated Model of National Party Response to European Integration". IHS Political Science Series: No. 115, May 2008

Developments in the policy and polity dimensions of European integration constitute the ‘European context’ of national politics. The present paper contributes to the broader debates on Europeanization by exploring whether and to what extent this context induces political party (policy and/or organizational) change. To date, research on the Europeanization of political parties has not yet been sufficiently linked to the general theories of party change. Hence, the paper theoretically embeds the study of political party Europeanization into extant theories of party change. It constructs a model accounting for variation in party response to the institutional and policy challenges brought about by European integration. The model distinguishes between different levels of party Europeanization (Awareness and Action) and stresses the role of intra-party power relations as well as primary party goals as important mediating factors

Exclusive solidarity? : radical right parties and the welfare state

Radical right parties in Western Europe have traditionally shown little support for redistributive policies and have thus been typically classified as economically right wing. Yet, they are contesting the votes of a (formerly) key electorate of the social democratic parties: the working class, who supports welfare redistribution. In this study, we argue and empirically demonstrate that radical right parties have adapted their programmatic preferences to this key segment of electorate by progressively promoting redistributive policies. For our analyses we use mixed methods and rely on a combination of data sources. Firstly, we assess the salience of welfare issues in the manifestos of major West European radical right parties over the last three decades based on CMP data. Secondly, we examine their positions on welfare issues based on recent euandi data. Thirdly, we analyse the most recent manifestos of two successful radical right parties (Austrian FPÖ and French FN) qualitatively. Our findings show that for a majority of radical right parties welfare state expansion has become a salient issue, and that they do not position themselves anymore on the right regarding redistributive issues; however, these parties promote a specific kind of solidarity: exclusive solidarity

From bad to worse? : reflections on the crisis in Greece and in Europe

What are the consequences of the radical measures taken in Greece since the beginning of the crisis? While discussing the positive and negative effects of the Troika therapy in Greece, this essay gives an overview of the political situation in Greece and Europe, and discusses the dangers for democracy in the EU.Welche Auswirkungen hatten die tief greifenden Maßnahmen, die seit Ausbruch der Krise in Griechenland eingeleitet wurden? In dem Essay werden die positiven und negativen Konsequenzen analysiert, und sodann wird diskutiert, was der Fall von Griechenland über die aktuelle politische Situation Griechenlands und Europas aussagt - und welche Gefahren für die Demokratie damit verbunden sind

Vom Regen in die Traufe? : Reflexionen über die Krise in Griechenland und in Europa

Welche Auswirkungen hatten die tief greifenden Maßnahmen, die seit Ausbruch der Krise in Griechenland eingeleitet wurden? In dem Essay werden die positiven und negativen Konsequenzen analysiert, und sodann wird diskutiert, was der Fall von Griechenland über die aktuelle politische Situation Griechenlands und Europas aussagt - und welche Gefahren für die Demokratie damit verbunden sind.What are the consequences of the radical measures taken in Greece since the beginning of the crisis? While discussing the positive and negative effects of the Troika therapy in Greece, this essay gives an overview of the political situation in Greece and Europe, and discusses the dangers for democracy in the EU