Contemporary Euroscepticism in the party systems of the European Union candidate states of Central and Eastern Europe

Taggart, Paul; Szczerbiak, Aleks

doi:10.1111/j.1475-6765.2004.00143.x

Cited by 258 publications

(124 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…8); high electoral volatility (Tavits 2005), and anti-EU sentiment present during the accession process (Elgün and Tillman 2007;Taggart and Szczerbiak 2004). These factors may affect the fit of a second-order model in "new" member states more than to "old" member states.…”

Section: The Second-order Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

European Parliament elections and EU governance

Marsh¹,

Mikhaylov²

2010

Living Rev. Euro. Gov.

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The decision to establish direct elections to the European Parliament was intended by many to establish a direct link between the individual citizen and decision making at the European level. Elections were meant to help to establish a common identity among the peoples of Europe, to legitimise policy through the normal electoral processes and provide a public space within which Europeans could exert a more direct control over their collective future. Critics disagreed, arguing that direct elections to the European Parliament would further undermine the sovereignty of member states, and may not deliver on the promise that so many were making on behalf of that process. In particular, some wondered whether elections alone could mobilise European publics to take a much greater interest in European matters, with the possibility of European elections being contested simply on national matters. Evaluating these divergent views, the subject of this article is to review the literature on direct elections to the European Parliament in the context of the role these elections play in governance of the European Union. The seminal work by Reif and Schmitt serves as the starting point of our review. These authors were the first to discuss elections to the European Parliament as second-order national elections. Results of second-order elections are influenced not only by second-order factors, but also by the situation in the first-order arena at the time of the second-order election. In the 30 years and six more sets of European Parliament elections since the publication of their work, the concept has become the dominant one in any academic discussion of European elections. In this article we review that work in order to assess the continuing value of the second-order national election concept today, and to consider some of the more fruitful areas for research which might build on the advance made by Reif and Schmitt. While the concept has proven useful in studies of a range of elections beyond just those for the European Parliament, including those for regional and local assemblies as well as referendums, this review will concentrate solely on EP elections. Concluding that Reif and Schmitt's characterisation remains broadly valid today, the article allows that while this does not mean there is necessarily a democratic deficit within the EU, there may be changes that could be made to encourage a more effective electoral process.

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Section: The Second-order Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

European Parliament elections and EU governance

Marsh¹,

Mikhaylov²

2010

Living Rev. Euro. Gov.

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“…Not all Eurosceptic parties oppose the integration process to the same extent. "Euroscepticism" can overall be broadly defined as a sentiment of disapproval towards European integration, and this classification includes both 'soft' and 'hard' Eurosceptic parties (Taggart and Szczerbiak 2004). Soft Eurosceptic parties refer to those that accept the idea of European integration, but oppose specific policies or institutional aspects of the EU, such as Syriza in Greece, Podemos in Spain or the Conservative Party in Britain.…”

Section: H2b: Individuals Who Disapprove Of the Eu's Performance Durimentioning

confidence: 99%

Turning against the Union? The impact of the crisis on the Eurosceptic vote in the 2014 European Parliament elections

2016

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Abstract:The 2014 European Parliament elections were held against the backdrop of the worst economic crisis in post-war Europe. The elections saw an unprecedented surge in support for Eurosceptic parties. This raises the question of whether the crisis, and the EU's response to it, can explain the rise of Eurosceptic parties. Our analysis of the 2014 European Election Study demonstrates that the degree to which individuals were adversely affected by the crisis and their discontent with the EU's handling of the crisis are major factors in explaining defection from mainstream pro-European to Eurosceptic parties in these elections. This suggests that far from being second-order national elections concerned only with domestic politics, European issues had a significant impact on vote choices.

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“…Taggart and Szczerbiak (2004) have found a rather equitable distribution of 'Euroscepticism' in CEE regardless of party family or left/right ideology, although some parties -primarily on the right -employed this rhetoric to strengthen their 'outsider' or 'non-incumbent' status. In turn, Marks et al (2006) and Rohrschneider and Whitefield (2007) show that the domestic cleavages of post-communist societies affect the position taken by political parties on European integration.…”

Section: Central and Eastern Europementioning

confidence: 99%

Public perceptions of the EU as a system of governance

Loveless¹,

Rohrschneider²

2008

Living Rev. Euro. Gov.

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Since its inception, the European Union has stimulated many vigorous debates. This Living Review provides a state of the field perspective on the academic work that has been done to address the question of the perceptions of the European Union as a system of governance. It takes a broad scope in assessing the efforts of scholars and highlights significant theoretical and empirical contributions as well as identifying potential avenues for research. In order to understand perceptions of the EU, scholars have employed national-level frameworks of popular support, particularly partisanship and instrumental self-interest. As the number of members has increased, further research has taken a broader scope to include national identity, institutions, and attitudes regarding the normative and empirical function of both national and EU institutions. Additional works address political intermediaries such as parties, media, and elites. Finally, all of the works are fundamentally concerned with the supportive popular sentiment that underpins the EU's legitimacy as a political institution. While there are far more works that can be practically included in this Living Review, we have attempted to construct an overview based on the dimensions that define this research as set out by significant contributions at the core of this literature. How to cite this articleOwing to the fact that a Living Reviews article can evolve over time, we recommend to cite the article as follows:Matthew Loveless and Robert Rohrschneider, "Public perceptions of the EU as a system of governance", Living Rev.

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Contemporary Euroscepticism in the party systems of the European Union candidate states of Central and Eastern Europe

Cited by 258 publications

References 33 publications

European Parliament elections and EU governance

European Parliament elections and EU governance

Turning against the Union? The impact of the crisis on the Eurosceptic vote in the 2014 European Parliament elections

Public perceptions of the EU as a system of governance

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