This book analyzes how the behavior of voters, parties, and the mass media in European Parliament elections affects domestic politics and how, in turn, domestic politics affects those behaviors. The contributors discuss election turnout and party choice, the contract between the European Parliament and national elections, the importance of citizens' attitudes toward European integration, the relationship between political parties' domestic policies and their stances on European integration, and the ways in which the mass media and election campaigns affect electoral outcomes. On the basis of this information, the authors present possible scenarios for future European elections and their relationship to the domestic politics of the EU member-states. The product of superb empirical research, European Elections and Domestic Politics is based on a unique combination of data from voter surveys, party manifestos, and mass media reports across all members of the European Union. This book will be essential for anyone interested in the future of the EU. "The definitive analysis of elections to the European Parliament, by a first-rate line-up of scholars, this study provides a masterclass on understanding the way that European elections, national politics, and the process of EU integration interact in complex and unexpected ways. An invaluable study for those interested in elections and voting behavior, European democracy, comparative politics, political communications, and political parties." --Pippa Norris, Director, Democratic Governance Group, United Nations Development Program and John f. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University "This book represents the best of the intersection on EU studies and the study of comparative European politics. This sort of scholarship is the cornerstone of those interested in the domestic politics of European integration ... a work of the first order of quality." --Paul Taggart, University of Sussex "This is the most comprehensive book ever written on European Parliament elections. For the first time, the latest research on voter turnout, voting behavior, party manifestos, election outcomes, the effect of the elections on national politics, and media coverage of European Parliament elections has been brought together in a single volume." --Simon Hix, London School of Economics

Written by a leading team of internationally distinguished political communication scholars, this book offers the most comprehensive account on comparative political communication research in the context of European Parliamentary elections to date. Divided into four sections, experts begin by tracing the historical and political background of European Parliamentary elections, paying close attention to trends in turnout and the changing institutional role of the European Parliament (EP). Focusing mainly on the 2009 elections and using original data throughout, the next two sections are devoted to campaign communication strategies and the overall media coverage of EP elections in both established and newly-accessioned members of the European Union. The concluding section focuses on the macro- and micro-level effects of European parliamentary campaigns in a comparative perspective to illustrate how campaign strategies and media coverage were received by voters in EU member states. This insightful account on the interaction between political actors, the media, and voters allows readers to develop a global understanding of political and media system interdependencies and on comparative political communication research more generally. Essential reading to students and scholars in political science, media studies, European politics, and political communication, as well as policy makers within the European Union.

Economic conditions are said to affect election outcomes, but past research has produced unstable and contradictory findings. This book argues that these problems are caused by the failure to take account of electoral competition between parties. A research strategy to correct this problem is designed and applied to investigate effects of economic conditions on (individual) voter choices and (aggregate) election outcomes over 42 elections in 15 countries. It shows that economic conditions exert small effects on individual party preferences, which can have large consequences for election outcomes. In countries where responsibility for economic policy is clear, voters vote retrospectively and reward or punish incumbent parties - although in coalition systems smaller government parties often gain at the expense of the largest party when economic conditions deteriorate. Where clarity of responsibility for economic policy is less clear, voters vote more prospectively on the basis of expected party policies.

The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe represents the standard reference text and practical resource for everybody who analyzes issues such as local electoral systems, voting behavior, or political representation in Europe. It provides comprehensive and expert coverage of 40 European countries – organized along the respective local state traditions – and in addressing a wide range of important questions related to local elections and voting, it broadens the scope of existing analyses quantitatively as well as qualitatively. Finally, it affords a more theoretically grounded typology of local elections and voting. Each country chapter is written by a leading expert and follows a rigorous conceptual framework for cross-national comparisons, providing an overview of the local government system, details on the place of local elections within the multilevel political system, specific features of the electoral system, analysis of the main electoral outcomes in recent decades, and, finally, reflective discussion. Representative democracy is as widespread at the local as at the national level, and as the significance of local authorities in Europe has increased in recent decades, local elections represent a crucial area of study. The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe is an authoritative and essential reference text for scholars and students interested in local electoral politics and, more broadly, European studies, public administration, and political science.

The book compares EU coverage in main online news forums during the 2009 European Parliamentary campaigns.

This book provides an analysis of the European Parliament elections 2019 with a focus on East-Central European countries. The authors offer conceptual insights into Euroscepticism and discuss traditionally familiar concepts in a new light, pairing East-Central European Euroscepticism with visions of illiberal democracy, on the one hand, and showing the increasing Europeanisation of Eurosceptic parties in the region, on the other. The book combines a fresh and innovative conceptual treatment with rich and accurate empirical evidence in order to highlight the dynamics of Euroscepticism in "new" EU member states. Students and experts interested in EU politics, within academia and beyond, will find this volume particularly informative.

Pathbreaking analysis of coordinated elections in twelve European nations