National membership models in a multilevel Europe

Abstract

Through two interwoven sections, this paper explores some empirical dimensions and theoretical challenges related to the granting of electoral rights to resident non-nationals by states and by the European Union. The objective is to develop approaches to models of membership that, in turn, enrich citizenship studies in the European Union context, offering an approach to studying EU citizenship firmly rooted in national constitutional discourses and practices. The focus in the first section is on electoral rights granted to EU citizens under article 19 EC, which allow the nationals of member states to vote in European Parliament and local elections when resident in a host member state, under the same conditions as nationals. We then explore in the second section some membership models that suggest how member states could develop defensible approaches to the challenges of determining the boundaries of the franchise in the complex multilevel Euro-polity.