Content provided in partnership with

'Europe' and the Electorate. . - Reviews - book review

Contemporary Review, Jan, 2002 by Peter Hylarides

Europeanised Politics? European Integration and National Political Systems. Klaus H. Goetz and Simon Hix, editors. Frank Cass. [pounds sterling]16.50 p.b. 248 pages. ISBN 0-146-8166-0.

The timing for publication of a book on the influence of European integration on national political systems was entirely right. In the last General Election William Hague made a huge issue of 'Europe', and two years earlier the elections for the European Parliament had the lowest turnout ever since the first elections in 1979: 49.4 per cent in total in the EU, and 24 per cent in the UK.

Most Popular Articles in News: The Ten Best Laptop bags; Tata plans cheapest-ever car for Indian market; GLOBALIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT OF THE THIRD WORLD; Corn is good for you; Corn is not only a tasty treat, but also a cereal that ...; THE 50 BEST STYLISH HANDBAGS TO CARRY; More »

Simon Hix and Klaus Goetz, both lecturers in the Department of Government in the London School of Economics, collected material from two workshops on European integration held at Nuffield College, Oxford. The main focus of the editors is on a subject mainly ignored until now: domestic political consequences of European integration. Five articles deal with the European impact on the input side of domestic politics, such as party systems, voting behaviour, unconventional forms of political protest, public-private networks and political communication. The other contributions focus on domestic governing institutions, including parliaments, courts and central executives.

In an extensive introduction, the editors explain what they mean by European integration, and how it may affect domestic political systems. They contend that integration as a source of change cannot be considered in isolation from other sources of domestic institutional and political change. The introduction serves as a starting-point for the following essays, and also emphasizes the need to advance beyond the current state of analysis presented in this volume.

European integration consists of two inter-related processes: the delegation of policy competences to the supranational level to achieve particular policy outcomes and the establishment of a new set of political institutions, with executive, legislative and judicial powers. With the delegation of policy competences to the European level and the creation of supranational political institutions, the scope for domestic policy alternatives has been severely limited. This is bound to influence national political systems.

In one of the contributions, 'European Integration, Voters and National Politics', the author considers whether and how EU membership shapes voting behaviour in national elections. The key finding was that the later a European Parliament election follows a national general election, the results of the European election have a greater impact on governing parties' fortunes in the subsequent national election. The apparent reason for this, according to this study, is that voters seem to use European election results as markers for the electoral prospects of national governing parties. In the case of Britain this was obviously not the case.

In the European elections in 1999, halfway through the Labour government's term, the Conservatives did remarkably well in the popular vote. If this was to be a marker for the general election in 2001, the Conservatives would have certainly fared better than they did. Instead their popular vote only increased by two percentage points in an election with the lowest turnout since 1918 (59 per cent). Whether this election was about European issues though, remains to be seen. Around 70 per cent of Britain's population still says 'no to the Euro', but they decidedly put their trust again in Tony Blair who has continuously stressed that Britain should be 'at the heart of Europe'. National issues were apparently of far greater importance to voters.

The low turnout in these elections brings us to another contribution in this volume. In 'The Limited Impact of Europe on National Party Systems', the author, distinguishing between direct and indirect impact on party systems, already hints at the conclusion: direct impact of European integration has been severely limited. Contrary to the domestic electoral arena, in which parties can compete for executive office, European elections only provide a forum for debates on the future of the European Union. This, in turn, hinders the development of a European party system and makes Brussels a playground for politicians and bureaucrats. The issue of Europe scarcely plays a role in national elections as is proven again in the British general election. Issues concerning the European political system, being largely excluded domestically, therefore, become depoliticized and lead to electoral disengagement and 'dealignment'.

We can now look with different eyes at the result of the referendum on the Nice treaty in Ireland: despite the fact that pro-Nice parties won 85 per cent of the vote in the general election of 1997, a majority of participants in the referendum (54 per cent) now prevents the government from ratifying the Nice treaty. Doesn't this highlight the catchwords 'depoliticisation', 'disengagement' and 'dealignment'?

Are there conclusions to be drawn from this publication? It is certainly correct that the first part of the title, Europeanised Politics?", ends with a question mark, as many questions remain unanswered in - as well as outside - the scope of this book. An example of the latter: why has public opinion on European integration changed so dramatically these last few years? If every member state would have held referenda on major issues concerning the EU, such as the introduction of the Euro or enlargement, one cannot but wonder how the Union would look today.

'Europe' and the Electorate. . - Reviews - book review

Contemporary Review, Jan, 2002 by Peter Hylarides

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Reference

Most Popular Articles in News

Most Popular Publications in News