Europarties After Enlargement: Organization, Ideology and Competition (Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics)

By comparing the importance of representative democracy to the EU as enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty with the political systems in the EU's newest member states, this study explores whether representative democracy can really exist in an enlarged EU and explores the constraints and opportunities for political parties operating the in the EU. "On the one hand, the EU enlargement of 2004/7 brought into the EU 12 new member states ten of which are post-communist countries. On the other, the Lisbon Treaty signed in 2007 states that the 'Union shall be founded on representative democracy' and its political parties contribute 'to express the will of the citizens'. Is representative (party) democracy possible in the enlarged and more diverse Union? What are the constraints and opportunities for its political parties? This study provides a systematic assessment of the impact of enlargement on political parties at the EU level. Theoretically, it builds on the literature on partisan formation and development to frame the consequences of the Union's widening. Empirically, it undertakes an extensive analysis combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Series 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 7 Contents 8 List of Tables and Figures 9 Acknowledgements 11 Introduction 13 Part I: Context and Theory 24 1 EU Democracy and Europarty Institutionalization 25 2 Framing the Impact of Enlargement 50 Part II: Empirical Analysis 65 3 Widening and Deepening the Political Groups 66 4 Europarty Ideology: Data and Measurement 86 5 Ideological Cohesion and Differences after Enlargement 104 6 Ideology and Pragmatism in the West and the East 122 7 From Preferences to Behaviour: Voting Cohesion in the EP 140 8 Left-Right Confrontation or Grand Coalition? 157 Conclusions: Europarties’ Prospects beyond the 2014 EP Elections 172 Appendix 183 Notes 191 Bibliography 198 Index 208 Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-11 Front Matter....Pages 13-13 EU Democracy and Europarty Institutionalization....Pages 15-39 Framing the Impact of Enlargement....Pages 40-54 Front Matter....Pages 55-55 Widening and Deepening the Political Groups....Pages 57-76 Europarty Ideology: Data and Measurement....Pages 77-94 Ideological Cohesion and Differences after Enlargement....Pages 95-112 Ideology and Pragmatism in the West and the East....Pages 113-130 From Preferences to Behaviour: Voting Cohesion in the EP....Pages 131-147 Left-Right Confrontation or Grand Coalition?....Pages 148-162 Conclusions: Europarties’ Prospects beyond the 2014 EP Elections....Pages 163-173 Back Matter....Pages 174-206