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Competition in the European Arena: How the Rules of the Game Help Nationalists Gain

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  • Zoe Lefkofridi

    (Department of Political Science and Salzburg Center of European Studies, University of Salzburg, Austria)

Abstract

Why does the European election fail to produce competition between European policy alternatives despite the increased politicization of European integration and efforts to connect election results to the Commission Presidency via the Spitzenkandidaten process? In this article I theorize the European arena’s incentive structure for political competition by synthesizing Strøm’s (1990) behavioral theory of competitive parties (votes, office, policy) and Bartolini’s (1999, 2000) four dimensions of electoral competition (contestability, availability, decidability, and incumbent vulnerability). I model EU decidability (party differentials on EU policy) and formulate specific expectations about party differentiation by considering parties’ vote-, office-, and policy-seeking motives under the European arena’s specific conditions. How parties behave under the specific incentive structure of the European arena matters for the EU’s development as a polity.

Suggested Citation

  • Zoe Lefkofridi, 2020. "Competition in the European Arena: How the Rules of the Game Help Nationalists Gain," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 41-49.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v8:y:2020:i:1:p:41-49
    DOI: 10.17645/pag.v8i1.2517
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Simon Hix & Amie Kreppel & Abdul Noury, 2003. "The Party System in the European Parliament: Collusive or Competitive?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 309-331, April.
    2. Gilles Pittoors, 2020. "Living Apart Together? The Organization of Political Parties beyond the Nation-State: The Flemish Case," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 50-60.
    3. Tim Heinkelmann-Wild & Lisa Kriegmair & Berthold Rittberger, 2020. "The EU Multi-Level System and the Europeanization of Domestic Blame Games," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 85-94.
    4. Hermann Schmitt & Alberto Sanz & Daniela Braun & Eftichia Teperoglou, 2020. "It All Happens at Once: Understanding Electoral Behaviour in Second-Order Elections," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 6-18.
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    6. Tim Heinkelmann-Wild & Lisa Kriegmair & Berthold Rittberger, 2020. "The EU Multi-Level System and the Europeanization of Domestic Blame Games," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 85-94.
    7. Zoe Lefkofridi & Alexia Katsanidou, 2018. "A Step Closer to a Transnational Party System? Competition and Coherence in the 2009 and 2014 European Parliament," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(6), pages 1462-1482, September.
    8. Hix, Simon & Noury, Abdul & Roland, Gérard, 2005. "Power to the Parties: Cohesion and Competition in the European Parliament, 1979–2001," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 35(2), pages 209-234, April.
    9. Hermann Schmitt & Alberto Sanz & Daniela Braun & Eftichia Teperoglou, 2020. "It All Happens at Once: Understanding Electoral Behaviour in Second-Order Elections," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 6-18.
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniela Braun & Martin Gross & Berthold Rittberger, 2020. "Political Behavior in the EU Multi-Level System," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 1-5.
    2. Zoe Lefkofridi & Nathalie Giger, 2020. "Democracy or Oligarchy? Unequal Representation of Income Groups in European Institutions," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 19-27.
    3. Eva-Maria Euchner & Elena Frech, 2020. "Candidate Selection and Parliamentary Activity in the EU’s Multi-Level System: Opening a Black-Box," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 72-84.
    4. Joost Berkhout & Marcel Hanegraaff & Patrick Statsch, 2020. "Interest Groups in Multi-Level Contexts: European Integration as Cross-Cutting Issue in Party-Interest Group Contacts," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 61-71.

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