The European Union and Party Politics in Slovenia: An Apparent or Real Impact?

Abstract

This account deals with the characteristics of and developments in the party system of Slovenia, applying to them Ladrech’s (2002) perspectives on the possible impacts of Europeanization processes on national party politics. It directs attention to the accession referendum in 2003 and three national elections — two national parliamentary elections (2000 and 2004) and the first elections to the European Parliament in 2004. In the Slovenian case there are some reasons to believe that the EU has had some impact on the nature of party politics, especially at the end of the 1990s when certain (more or less symbolic) questions arose in the process of negotiating for full EU membership. There is also evidence that the EU is gradually and increasingly exerting an influence on domestic policy issues and national actors.KeywordsParty PoliticsDemocratic PartyParty SystemParliamentary ElectionNational PartyThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.