The Politicization of European Integration: More than an Elite Affair?

Abstract

A growing literature in research on the European Union (EU) claims that European integration has become comprehensively politicized in the EU's population. The most convincing evidence for this assertion stems from research on political and societal elites – studies of party manifestos, interest groups' activities, news media reporting and the like. By contrast, evidence on politicization trends in the broader citizenry is much more ambiguous. This article raises the question of whether politicization is more than an elite phenomenon. Based on a differentiated conception of politicization, it analyzes focus groups conducted with EU citizens in four member states. It shows that, for most citizens, only the fundamentals of European integration have gained political saliency, while the EU's day‐to‐day activities remain largely non‐politicized. In addition, patterns of politicization in the European population are conditioned by significant knowledge deficits.

Introduction: the differentiated politicisation of European governance

“…These manifestations of actor engagement are time and place specific. They result in different patterns of politicisation with respect to the relative strength of salience and polarisation in various settings, the specific constellation of actors and audiences, the behavioural manifestations of politicisation and its substantive content (see also De Wilde and Zürn 2012;Hurrelmann et al 2013). …”

Politicizing Europe in the National Electoral Arena: A Comparative Analysis of Five West European Countries, 1970–2010

“…In this arena, where political parties compete for votes, expansion of the scope of actors means that not only party‐affiliated actors in government address European integration, but also party actors that are not represented in government (for example, actors from opposition parties). However, we should keep in mind that political controversy in the electoral arena necessarily has an elitist bias and may not represent the full scope of political conflict on an issue which may include the activities of interest groups, social movement organizations and the wider citizenry (see, for instance, Hurrelmann et al ., forthcoming).…”

What Happens in Parliament Stays in Parliament? Newspaper Coverage of National Parliaments in EU Affairs

“…More recently, scholars have started to focus on the communicative role of national parliaments in the EU, stressing their potential to make EU political decisions and processes more accessible for their citizens (see, for example, the Special Issue edited by Auel and Raunio, 2014). As Hurrelmann et al (2015) have found, increased salience of EU issues coupled with limited knowledge about the EU can lead to citizens experiencing a diffuse but deep feeling of disenfranchisement. Here, national parliaments have the ability to make EU politics more visible by functioning as a public 'Congress of Opinions' (Mill, 1865) on EU politics, and thus act as a remedy for such feelings of disenfranchisement: by controlling their executives and holding them publicly to account for their decisions at the EU level, they may help to attribute responsibilities in a multilevel polity that is perceived as complex, remote and opaque.…”