IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jcmkts/v59y2021i3p661-678.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Politicization Matter for EU Representation? A Comparison of Four European Parliament Elections

Author

Listed:
  • Sofia Vasilopoulou
  • Katjana Gattermann

Abstract

What is the effect of politicization on EU representation? We empirically test two competing views through a focus on party–voter congruence, namely whether parties share the policy preferences of their voters. The first perspective expects that the process of politicization – either through party or media contestation – would improve party–voter agreement. The second perspective argues that politicization has not improved the supply of partisan debate with parties still not offering satisfactory options to voters who are primarily driven by protest‐based considerations; and as such does not expect an effect. We analyse congruence on the left–right and pro–anti‐EU dimensions, capturing questions related to EU policy and polity, respectively. Our examination of four European Parliament elections (1999–2014) and 341 parties across 53 electoral contexts points to the limited effect of politicization upon representation. Our findings have significant implications for the study of EU politicization and representation and open up avenues for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Sofia Vasilopoulou & Katjana Gattermann, 2021. "Does Politicization Matter for EU Representation? A Comparison of Four European Parliament Elections," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(3), pages 661-678, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:59:y:2021:i:3:p:661-678
    DOI: 10.1111/jcms.13125
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13125
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jcms.13125?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Matt Golder & Jacek Stramski, 2010. "Ideological Congruence and Electoral Institutions," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(1), pages 90-106, January.
    2. Andreas Follesdal & Simon Hix, 2006. "Why There is a Democratic Deficit in the EU: A Response to Majone and Moravcsik," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 533-562, September.
    3. Hanspeter Kriesi, 2016. "The Politicization of European Integration," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54, pages 32-47, September.
    4. Andreas Follesdal & Simon Hix, 2006. "Why There is a Democratic Deficit in the EU: A Response to Majone and Moravcsik," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44, pages 533-562, September.
    5. Schmitter, Philippe C., 1969. "Three Neo-Functional Hypotheses About International Integration," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 161-166, January.
    6. Alvarez, R. Michael & Nagler, Jonathan, 2004. "Party System Compactness: Measurement and Consequences," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 46-62, January.
    7. Paul Statham & Hans-Jörg Trenz, 2013. "How European Union Politicization can Emerge through Contestation: The Constitution Case," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 965-980, September.
    8. Silvia Ferrari & Francisco Cribari-Neto, 2004. "Beta Regression for Modelling Rates and Proportions," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(7), pages 799-815.
    9. Katjana Gattermann & Claes De Vreese & Wouter van der Brug, 2016. "Evaluations of the Spitzenkandidaten: The Role of Information and News Exposure in Citizens’ Preference Formation," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(1), pages 37-54.
    10. James Adams & Lawrence Ezrow & Zeynep Somer‐Topcu, 2011. "Is Anybody Listening? Evidence That Voters Do Not Respond to European Parties’ Policy Statements During Elections," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(2), pages 370-382, April.
    11. Hooghe, Liesbet & Marks, Gary, 2009. "A Postfunctionalist Theory of European Integration: From Permissive Consensus to Constraining Dissensus," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(1), pages 1-23, January.
    12. Pieter De Wilde & Michael Zürn, 2012. "Can the Politicization of European Integration be Reversed?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(S1), pages 137-153, March.
    13. Börzel, Tanja A. & Risse, Thomas, 2009. "Revisiting the Nature of the Beast – Politicization, European Identity, and Postfunctionalism: A Comment on Hooghe and Marks," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(1), pages 217-220, January.
    14. Hermann Schmitt & Jacques Thomassen, 2000. "Dynamic Representation: The Case of European Integration," MZES Working Papers 21, MZES.
    15. Hutter, Swen & Kriesi, Hanspeter, 2019. "Politicizing Europe in times of crisis," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 26(7), pages 996-1017.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Katjana Gattermann & Claes H De Vreese, 2017. "The role of candidate evaluations in the 2014 European Parliament elections: Towards the personalization of voting behaviour?," European Union Politics, , vol. 18(3), pages 447-468, September.
    2. Felix Lehmann, 2023. "Talking about Europe? Explaining the salience of the European Union in the plenaries of 17 national parliaments during 2006–2019," European Union Politics, , vol. 24(2), pages 370-389, June.
    3. C. Nicolai L. Gellwitzki & Anne‐Marie Houde, 2022. "Feeling the Heat: Emotions, Politicization, and the European Union," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(5), pages 1470-1487, September.
    4. Braun, Daniela & Grande, Edgar, 2021. "Politicizing Europe in Elections to the European Parliament (1994–2019): The Crucial Role of Mainstream Parties," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 59(5), pages 1124-1141.
    5. Rauh, Christian, 2022. "Clear messages to the European public? The language of European Commission press releases 1985–2020," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Latest Ar, pages 1-19.
    6. Henrik Scheller & Annegret Eppler, 2014. "European Disintegration – non-existing Phenomenon or a Blind Spot of European Integration Research? Preliminary Thoughts for a Research Agenda," Working Papers of the Vienna Institute for European integration research (EIF) 2, Institute for European integration research (EIF).
    7. Christopher Wratil, 2015. "Democratic Responsiveness in the European Union: the Case of the Council," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 94, European Institute, LSE.
    8. Wouter van der Brug & Katjana Gattermann & Claes H. de Vreese, 2022. "Electoral responses to the increased contestation over European integration. The European Elections of 2019 and beyond," European Union Politics, , vol. 23(1), pages 3-20, March.
    9. Dimiter Toshkov, 2011. "Public opinion and policy output in the European Union: A lost relationship," European Union Politics, , vol. 12(2), pages 169-191, June.
    10. Zürn, Michael, 2019. "Politicization compared: at national, European, and global levels," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 26(7), pages 977-995.
    11. Jørgen Bølstad, 2015. "Dynamics of European integration: Public opinion in the core and periphery," European Union Politics, , vol. 16(1), pages 23-44, March.
    12. Iskander De Bruycker, 2017. "Politicization and the public interest: When do the elites in Brussels address public interests in EU policy debates?," European Union Politics, , vol. 18(4), pages 603-619, December.
    13. Markus Gastinger, 2021. "Introducing the EU exit index measuring each member state’s propensity to leave the European Union," European Union Politics, , vol. 22(3), pages 566-585, September.
    14. Christopher Wratil, 2018. "Modes of government responsiveness in the European Union: Evidence from Council negotiation positions," European Union Politics, , vol. 19(1), pages 52-74, March.
    15. Anja Thomas, 2023. "Who lends the EU the ‘right to govern’?: Symbolic legitimacy vs. pragmatic policy framing in party communication during the Covid-19 pandemic," RSCAS Working Papers 2023/35, European University Institute.
    16. Márton Bene & Melanie Magin & Daniel Jackson & Darren Lilleker & Delia Balaban & Paweł Baranowski & Jörg Haßler & Simon Kruschinski & Uta Russmann, 2022. "The Polyphonic Sounds of Europe: Users’ Engagement With Parties’ European-Focused Facebook Posts," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(1), pages 108-120.
    17. Esther Ademmer & Anna Leupold & Tobias Stöhr, 2019. "Much ado about nothing? The (non-) politicisation of the European Union in social media debates on migration," European Union Politics, , vol. 20(2), pages 305-327, June.
    18. Katjana Gattermann, 2013. "News about the European Parliament: Patterns and external drivers of broadsheet coverage," European Union Politics, , vol. 14(3), pages 436-457, September.
    19. Beetz, Jan Pieter & Rossi, Enzo, 2015. "EU legitimacy in a realist key," Discussion Papers, Center for Global Constitutionalism SP IV 2015-802, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    20. Caroline Mcevoy, 2016. "The Role of Political Efficacy on Public Opinion in the European Union," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(5), pages 1159-1174, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:59:y:2021:i:3:p:661-678. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0021-9886 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.