scholarly journals Going transnational? Candidates' transnational linkages on Twitter during the 2019 European Parliament elections

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Stier
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Institutional Reform ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Order Logic ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
Euro Pean ◽  
European Public ◽  
European Parliament Elections ◽  
Second Order Logic ◽  
The Eu

How transnational are European Parliament (EP) campaigns? Building on research on the Euro-pean public sphere and the politicisation of the EU, this study investigates to what extent the 2019 EP campaign was transnational and which factors were associated with ‘going transna-tional’. It conceptualises Twitter linkages of EP candidates as constitutive elements of a transna-tional campaign arena distinguishing interactions with EP candidates from other countries (hori-zontal transnationalisation) and interactions with the supranational European party families and lead candidates (vertical transnationalisation). The analysis of tweets sent by EP candidates from all 28 member states reveals that most linkages remain national. Despite this evidence for the second-order logic, there are still relevant variations contingent on EU positions of parties, the adoption of the Spitzenkandidaten system and socialisation in the EP. The findings have impli-cations for debates on the European public sphere and institutional reform proposals such as transnational party lists that might mitigate the EU’s democratic deficit.

Facing Democratic Crisis in the EU: the New European Citizens’ Initiative Regulation

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-147
Author(s):  
Diego González Cadenas
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
European Public Sphere ◽  
European Public ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Effective Development ◽  
Popular Initiative ◽  
Legitimacy Crisis ◽  
The Eu

For some scholars, the possibilities for diminishing the European democratic deficit and the Union’s legitimacy crisis are intertwined with the creation of a European demos and a European public sphere, that, in turn, can create a European civil solidarity. The European citizens’ initiative, which has recently been re-regulated, was precisely designed to help to solve these problems. As we shall see, the new Regulation includes a whole series of positive technical issues that will improve the usage of the mechanism. However, the European citizens’ initiative is still far from being a popular initiative and, therefore, to contribute to diminish the perception of distance between institutions and citizens of the EU or promoting the creation of a European demos. In this vein, after an overview of the European citizens’ initiative new Regulation main innovations and weaknesses, I will present a set of measures in order to achieve a more effective development of the mechanism.

scholarly journals Visions of Europe: emerging challenges for the European project in the aftermath of the 2014 European Parliament elections

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arianna Giovannini ◽  
Laura Polverari ◽  
Antonella Seddone
Keyword(s):  
European Parliament ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
European Public ◽  
Key Dimensions ◽  
Eu Project ◽  
European Parliament Elections ◽  
Institutional Architecture ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) is facing a profound political crisis of leadership, legitimacy, and purpose. This article provides an analysis of these key dimensions of crisis. It does so by examining the way in which they intersect and their impact on the EU’s institutional architecture, on the politicization of the European public sphere, on the wider dynamics of representation that underpin these processes, and on the political systems and polities of the member states. Drawing on such analysis, we assess the 2014 European Parliament election with reference to the findings of the six articles included in this collection. We conclude with a critical reflection on the competing and often piecemeal ‘visions of Europe’ that emerge from the studies in this volume and the challenges they pose to the EU project.

scholarly journals Euroscepticism and the European parliament: The mutual legitimization paradox

2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-187
Author(s):  
Zaklina Novicic
Keyword(s):  
European Parliament ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
Political Movements ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
The Eu

The European continent is moving away from a long-term tacit consensus on the desirability of deepening of European integration and entering a period of uncertainty and turbulence. The rise of the Euroskeptics on the European political scene creates without a doubt a discomfort among pro-European political forces. This prevents the democratic capacity of this process to be perceived, and in particular, the contribution of Euroscepticism channeled in the European Parliament, since it is the only organized political opposition in the EU institutional order which in terms of procedure leaves little room for that. Political movements and parties that express doubts about the benefits of the EU are certainly gaining legitimization by entering the European Parliament. However, on the other hand, this may have one unintended consequence. They contribute to the democratic legitimization and the reduction of the democratic deficit of the institution which they more or less radically challenge. They do so in the context of limited legitimization conferred to the European Parliament within the institutional structure of the EU. At first glance, the paradox of Euroscepticism being a threat to the EU and at the same time of reducing its democratic deficit is explained in this paper by the use of the German Federal Constitutional Court expressed in the famous judgment on the constitutionality of the Treaty of Lisbon. In addition to normative considerations, the paper also contains a shorter political review on the rise of Euroscepticism and its perspective. The author concludes that a conditional mutual legitimization of Euroscepticism and the European Parliament is emerging as a new political reality.

The Democratic Function of the Public Sphere in Europe

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 673-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayte Peters
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Public ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
European Democracy ◽  
European Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Eu

Democratically legitimized European integration calls for developments in culture and society—which arise naturally in the scope of on-going political, economic and institutional European Union (EU) integration—to be publically debated so they may be politically processed. The space where this happens is the public sphere, or, in the context of the EU, the European public sphere. The latter complements national public spheres. Successful integration among EU Member States is made possible by adhering to a common set of values at the same time as respecting the national identities of the Member States and fostering cultural diversity. By way of Union citizenship rights, individuals are able to make use of and actively promote the Europeanization of societies and cultures. Yet citizens are affected by Europeanization to differing degrees, with only a minority of citizens actively partaking in transnational exchange. In order to account for European integration democratically, the EU treaties hold provisions allowing for a close institutional interdependence of national and European democracy.

scholarly journals The EU's Democratic Deficit and the Public Sphere

2016 ◽  
Vol 115 (779) ◽  
pp. 83-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Werner Müller
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Public Spheres ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Eu

The EU will not become something like a traditional nation-state anytime soon, and no supranational public sphere is likely to ever replace national public spheres.

scholarly journals The European Parliament Elections 2014

2014 ◽  
pp. 5-20
Author(s):  
A. Avilova ◽  
A. Gutnick ◽  
Y. Kvashnin ◽  
V. Olenchenko ◽  
N. Toganova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Uk ◽  
European Parliament Elections ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

The article is devoted to the European Parliament elections held in May 2014. Their results are analyzed on two levels – national and pan-European. On the national one the authors provide case studies of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Poland, Italy and Greece. The impact of economic crisis and later the severe public debt crisis in Eurozone countries on the EU Parliament elections is estimated. Another factor examined in the study is the public awareness of the EU’s institutions in everyday life. The authors point out the contradiction between the public opinion on these institutions and the ongoing process of further integration due to the crises in such fields as finances and government expenditures. The latest process is viewed by the experts as a positive one, but the lack of public understanding resulted in abstention, protest voting and the rise of right-wing and populist parties. The national case studies showed that the situation varied from country to country. In some of them the pan-European agenda has played a greater role, in others it influenced the elections, but in the end they were mainly a referendum on the national government performance. The case of the UK illustrated the first tendency, but partly also the second one: the elections not only put the question about the country’s role in the EU, but also reflected the citizens’ discontent in mainstream politics. France, Greece and partly Italy showed that the voters disapprove the EU politics, especially concerning such fields as immigration and economic and debt crisis. The Polish case demonstrates that the lack of information on the EU’s institutions can jeopardize the positions of centrist parties even in a very pro-European country. The election results in FRG confirm that the Germans are trying to identify their country’s role in the European institutions and find the right attitude toward its growing responsibility for the integration process.

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