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Get your Act Together

Author

Listed:
  • Federico Ferrara

    (Harvard University, USA, ferrara@fas.harvard.edu)

  • J. Timo Weishaupt

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, weishaupt@polisci.wisc.edu)

Abstract

Research on elections to the European Parliament (EP) has consistently found that European elections are distinguished by a lack of European content. Such elections, in spite of the growing powers exercised by the EP, remain ‘second-order’. Clearly, however, EU-related issues have affected the performance of some political parties in EP elections, particularly in countries such as Sweden and Denmark. In our empirical analysis of the three most recent EP elections, we explain party choice as a function of both European and non-EU-related factors. Through the use of standard regression models, we find that the parties that have not ‘got their act together’ on European issues—whose internal fractionalization leads to ambiguities about their stance on EU integration—systematically perform worse. We also corroborate some of the implications of the ‘second-order’ model and resolve some empirical disputes.

Suggested Citation

  • Federico Ferrara & J. Timo Weishaupt, 2004. "Get your Act Together," European Union Politics, , vol. 5(3), pages 283-306, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:5:y:2004:i:3:p:283-306
    DOI: 10.1177/1465116504045154
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kernell, Samuel, 1977. "Presidential Popularity and Negative Voting: An Alternative Explanation of the Midterm Congressional Decline of the President's Party," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 71(1), pages 44-66, March.
    2. Marsh, Michael, 1998. "Testing the Second-Order Election Model after Four European Elections," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(4), pages 591-607, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Adam Sobek & Harvey Miller, 2006. "U-Access: a web-based system for routing pedestrians of differing abilities," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 269-287, September.

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