Europe in crisis? Testing the stability and explanatory factors of the Europeanization of national public spheres

Abstract

Presenting new data for a large-scale longitudinal content analysis of newspapers in six European countries between 1982 and 2008, the article explores what has previously been described as the process of ‘segmented Europeanization’ of national public spheres. Expanding on the theoretical concept of political discourse cultures, the article tests the explanatory power of national and editorial political discourse cultures on the degree of Europeanization of national public spheres. The analysis reveals the persistent stability of the pattern of ‘segmented Europeanization’ in which national public spheres increase their monitoring of Brussels but not their efforts to connect with other European countries. Still, the revealed national differences pale compared to the transnational gulf existing between quality and tabloid newspapers which may ultimately represent a far greater threat to the legitimacy of the European Union than the persistent lack of discursive exchange among the European community of nations.