Opposing Europe?: The Comparative Party Politics of Euroscepticism: Volume 2: Comparative and Theoretical PerspectivesAleks Szczerbiak, Paul A. Taggart The project of European integration now spans Europe, but in becoming bigger and broader the European Union has brought on itself significant criticism. As the EU becomes deeper, wider, and more ambitious, so opposition and scepticism become more prominent for citizens and more problematic for elites. Concerns about a 'democratic deficit' and the distance between European elites and publics have come to be a common feature of European politics. As a consequence Euroscepticism has become a part of the terrain of conflict between political parties across Europe. Opposing Europe? provides the first comprehensive review of party-based Euroscepticism across the breadth of contemporary Europe and the first in-depth comparative academic study of Euroscepticism. This, the second of two volumes, is made up of comparative chapters which address different aspects of Euroscepticism. The volume looks across Europe and includes EU member states and candidate and non-member states in order to draw out comparative lessons that relate to the nature of political parties, party systems, and the domestic politics of European integration. Opposing Europe? is a groundbreaking, 'state of the art' book that provides a definitive review of a key issue in European politics. It is also one of the few attempts to integrate the fields of EU studies with both West European and East European studies in order to draw lessons about the way in which the EU interacts with domestic politics in both member and non-member states. Examining the way that parties position themselves and compete on the European issue provides powerful lessons for the trajectory of the European integration project more generally, and on the prospects for the emergence of a European political system and polity. |
Contents
Researching Euroscepticism in European Party Systems A Comparative and Theoretical Research Agenda | 1 |
Institutional Setting and Political Agency in European Polities | 28 |
3 Protectionism Populism or Participation? Agrarian Parties and the European Question in Western and East Central Europe | 52 |
Euroscepticism in Transnational Perspective | 76 |
5 Exceptionalism or Convergence? Euroscepticism and Party Systems in Central and Eastern Europe | 103 |
6 Explaining the Failure of Euroscepticism in the European Parliament | 127 |
A Comparative Analysis of the European and National Parliaments | 151 |
8 How Deep Is the Wider Europe? Elites Europeanization and Euroscepticism in the CEECs | 181 |
9 There is Not Much Eurosceptic NonVoting in European Parliament Elections | 208 |
Problems of Definition Measurement and Causality | 238 |
263 | |
281 | |
Other editions - View all
Opposing Europe?: The Comparative Party Politics of Euroscepticism: Volume 2 ... Aleks Szczerbiak,Paul Taggart No preview available - 2008 |
Opposing Europe?: The Comparative Party Politics of Euroscepticism: Volume 2 ... Aleks Szczerbiak,Paul A. Taggart No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
abstention accession agrarian parties analysis argues attitudes candidate causal CEECs cent Centre Party centre-right chapter Christian Democrats coalition communist countries Czech Republic Danish People’s Party democracy economic electoral participation enlargement EP elections EU’s European elections European integration European issue European Parliament European Parliament elections European party European Union Europhile Eurosceptic parties factors Fidesz Group Hard Eurosceptics Hungarian Hungary identity ideological impact important institutions Katowice Kopecký and Mudde Maribor membership MEPs MNPs Movement for France national parliaments negotiations non-voting opposed opposition party positions party systems party-based Euroscepticism party’s Pécs People’s Party Polish Peasant Party political parties positions on Europe post-communist potential pro-EU question Rally for France referendums regional respondents SCEPT scepticism significant Sitter Slovakia Social Democrats Socialist Soft Eurosceptic stance strategy structures sub-national elites Sweden Swedish Szczerbiak 2002a Taggart and Szczerbiak Tartu tion transnational party variables vote voters West European