Hard and Soft Euroscepticism in the European Parliament

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Petr Kaniok ◽  
Magda Komínková
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Stable Component ◽  
Using Data

Euroscepticism has become a stable component of the European Parliament. But is there one distinct Euroscepticism in the European Parliament or do various types exist there? Departing from the widely accepted definitions of hard and soft Euroscepticism, we analysed the behaviour of Eurosceptical groups in the European Parliament in order to assess how they differ. Using data from parliamentary questions, we argue that there are substantial differences between these two groups. This suggests that hard and soft Euroscepticisms do not represent different degrees of one phenomenon, but instead refer to two fundamentally different stances towards European integration.

scholarly journals What type of Europe? The salience of polity and policy issues in European Parliament elections

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 570-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Braun ◽  
Swen Hutter ◽  
Alena Kerscher
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Party System ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Issue Salience ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Crucial Difference ◽  
Using Data ◽  
European Parliament Elections

How much and why do political parties emphasize Europe in election campaigns? The literature is increasingly focusing on two aspects of party issue competition: position and salience. However, recent studies on salience tend to ignore the fact that Europe is a compound political issue. This article contributes to the debate by highlighting the crucial difference between constitutive and policy-related European issues. Using data from the Euromanifestos Project for 14 EU member states for the period 1979–2009, we first show that Europe is much more salient in European Parliament elections than previously assumed. Second, EU issue salience depends on party position and party system polarization over European integration. However, different explanations come into play once we bring in the polity-vs.-policy distinction. This has important implications for our understanding of party competition on European integration.

Disengaging elections? Political interest, number of elections, and turnout in elections to the European Parliament

2021 ◽  
pp. 146511652199845
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Nonnemacher
Keyword(s):  
Political Behavior ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
National Study ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
European Election ◽  
Using Data ◽  
European Parliament Elections ◽  
Cross National Study

Since direct elections to the European Parliament began in 1979, variations in voting behavior in European Parliament elections from national elections have raised interesting questions about political behavior. I add to a growing literature that explores turnout in European Parliament elections by focusing on the count of national elections between European Parliament elections. Through a cross-national study of elections, I find that turnout decreases in the European Parliament contest following cycles with numerous national contests. Then, using data from the European Election Study, I argue that this is the result of frequent elections decreasing turnout particularly among already low interest voters who stay home. My findings have implications for how formal rules of multi-level elections shape political behavior more generally and voter fatigue in particular.

Les aspects politiques de l'évolution de la nouvelle vie parlementaire au sein du Parlement européen depuis sa première élection au suffrage universel direct en Juin 1979

1989 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantin Antonakis
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Political System ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Interests ◽  
The North ◽  
American Model ◽  
Institutional System ◽  
North And South

The appearance of the new parliamentary life within the european parliament elected by direct universal franchise in june 1979. The first two turns of office saw the emergence of new political currents of european size. Via the ups and downs of european integration and the economic questions which are the community's member one concern, the new political european parliamentary game, determined by national interests and the decline of the ideological factor, comes to the fore. At least that's what the political powers of the north and south of the community put forward based on their national choices. Whereas the parliament demands an important role in the institutional system, the new european political system is looking more and more like the american model.

scholarly journals The Consequences of Quotas: Assessing the Effect of Varied Gender Quotas on Legislator Experience in the European Parliament

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Andrea S. Aldrich ◽  
William T. Daniel
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Electoral Institutions ◽  
Female Representation ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Political Experience ◽  
Using Data

Abstract This article explores the consequences of quotas on the level of diversity observed in legislators’ professional and political experience. We examine how party system and electoral system features that are meant to favor female representation, such as gender quotas for candidate selection or placement mandates on electoral lists, affect the composition of legislatures by altering the mix of professional and political qualifications held by its members. Using data collected for all legislators initially seated to the current session of the European Parliament, one of the largest and most diverse democratically elected legislatures in the world, we find that quotas eliminate gendered differences in experience within the institution, particularly when used in conjunction with placement mandates that ensure female candidates are featured on electoral lists in viable positions. Electoral institutions can generally help to “level the playing field” between the backgrounds of men and women in elected office while increasing the presence of desirable qualities among European Parliament representatives of both genders.

scholarly journals The political system of European Union after European Parliament Election of 2019

2019 ◽  
pp. 15-30
Author(s):  
Andrii Martynov
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Political System ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Parliaments ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Eu

The politics of the European Union are different from other organizations and states due to the unique nature of the EU. The common institutions mix the intergovernmental and supranational aspects of the EU. The EU treaties declare the EU to be based on representative democracy and direct elections take place to the European Parliament. The Parliament, together with the European Council, works for the legislative arm of the EU. The Council is composed of national governments thus representing the intergovernmental nature of the European Union. The central theme of this research is the influence of the European Union Political system the Results of May 2019 European Parliament Election. The EU supranational legislature plays an important role as a producer of legal norms in the process of European integration and parliamentary scrutiny of the activities of the EU executive. The European Parliament, as a representative institution of the European Union, helps to overcome the stereotypical notions of a “Brussels bureaucracy” that limits the sovereignty of EU member states. The European Parliament is a political field of interaction between European optimists and European skeptics. The new composition of the European Parliament presents political forces focused on a different vision of the strategy and tactics of the European integration process. European federalists in the “European People’s Party” and “European Socialists and Democrats” consider the strategic prospect of creating a confederate “United States of Europe”. The Brexit withdrawal from the EU could help the federalists win over European skeptics. Critics of the supranational project of European integration do not have a majority in the new composition of the European Parliament. But they are widely represented in many national parliaments of EU Member States. The conflicting interaction between European liberals and far-right populists is the political backdrop for much debate in the European Parliament. The result of this process is the medium term development vector of the European Union.

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