European Parliament Elections Research Articles

The differential impact of EU attitudes on voting behaviour in the European parliamentary elections 2019

ABSTRACT EU attitudes are multidimensional and likely to matter differentially for voting across different parties. The 2019 European Parliament (EP) elections offer a unique setting for testing the differential effects of multidimensional EU attitudes, as the election results entailed increased political fragmentation – with notable pro- and anti-EU party groups in the EP gaining strength. This article examines the importance of EU attitudes on electoral choice and zooms in on the influence of specific EU attitudes on party voting in EP elections (‘EU issue voting’). We use original survey data collected around the 2019 EP elections in ten EU member states, which include a fine-grained measurement of EU attitudes. We find evidence for EU issue voting in all countries, albeit not equally structured across countries. EU issue voting matters across all party groups with affective and performance evaluations having the strongest effects.

Personal, Private, Emotional? How Political Parties Use Personalization Strategies on Facebook in the 2014 and 2019 EP Election Campaigns

In 2014, the EU introduced the lead candidate procedure to raise citizens’ awareness and interest in the European Parliament (EP) elections and, thereby, voter turnout. We study the use of personalization, centralized personalization (focusing on lead candidates), emotional personalization, and private personalization on Facebook by political parties across 12 countries during the 2014 and 2019 EP campaigns and the effects of personalization on user engagement. A standardized quantitative content analysis of 14,293 posts by 227 political parties shows that about half of the Facebook posts were personalized, but there is no general trend of rising personalization. While emotional personalization increased, parties hardly ever posted about their lead candidates and their private lives. Variations are not due to structural (e.g., party and media systems) or geographical/cultural factors. Positive effects are found for the use of emotional personalization attracting a higher volume of user reactions (likes, reactions, shares, and comments) in both elections.

The European Parliament as the voice of the European citizens? Examining the European Parliament’s role as a representative of the European citizens in the 2019 elections

The European Parliament is considered a solution to the democratic deficit because the citizens of the EU directly elect it. This article aims to examine the validity of this claim. Concerning representativeness, the focus is on the homogeneity of rules and procedures used for electing the members of the European Parliament (MEPs). This homogeneity is considered as necessary for the EP to represent the EU citizens. Thus, it aims to assess the impact of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union on the level of homogeneity of the rules used to conduct the 2019 European Parliament elections. This work claims that the European Parliament's role as representative of European Citizens is weakened by the consistent level of heterogeneity characterising the electoral rules used to elect it and that the withdrawal of the UK and the partial redistribution of seats simultaneously increased and decreased the level of homogeneity of the rules used to elect the MEPs.

Second-order Economic Voting in Elections to the European Parliament

When examining citizens’ behaviour in elections to the European Parliament (EP), second order elections (SOE) and economic voting (EV) have overlooked each other as alien traditions. However, they should not be seen as incompatible: voters may use EP elections to support national incumbents but, at the same time, this support may be the result of an economic assessment. This paper blends both frameworks and finds that, even though EP elections are not intended to evaluate domestic politics, voters use them to reward or punish national incumbents (i.e. SOE) for the state of the economy (i.e. EV); a behaviour referred to here as ‘second-order economic voting’. The predominance of second-order EV is relevant for EU politics. If EP elections enhance national incumbents’ accountability while the European executive remains unacknowledged, this could be disturbing for European economic institutions.

European Parliament Elections 2024: What Is at Stake?

European Parliament Elections 2024: What Is at Stake?

Farmer Protests and the 2024 European Parliament Elections

Farmer Protests and the 2024 European Parliament Elections

The Fleeting Allure of Dark Campaigns: Backlash from Negative and Uncivil Campaigning in the Presence of (Better) Alternatives

ABSTRACT More aggressive campaigning styles focusing on criticizing opponents (negativity) or using inappropriate language to vilify opponents (incivility) tend to be disliked by voters, and remain thus risky for parties facing off in competitive elections. Backlashes against attackers often cancel out any dent the attacks may leave in the support for the targets. Yet, research on the conditions under which these backlashes are more likely to happen remains fragmentary. In this article, we argue that the nature of the electoral competition – specifically, the presence of viable alternative parties for voters to choose from – matters. Voters could be more likely to withdraw political support from the attacker when such alternatives exist. We test whether the availability and ideological attractiveness of alternatives intervene to explain the backlash effect associated with negativity and incivility, at the election, party, and voter levels. We do so comparatively in the context of the 2019 European Parliament elections in 27 EU countries, by linking a cross-sectional post-election survey (N = 18,790) with an expert survey covering the campaigning strategies of 175 parties that participated in the election across the continent. Estimating mixed effects multi-level models, we find support for the moderating effect of alternatives at the voter-level; voters who have at least equally attractive alternatives available to them are less likely to support parties that go negative than voters to whom the attacking party is the most viable option. Alternatives do not seem to play a major role, however, at the party and election levels.

European Union defensive democracy’s responses to disinformation

ABSTRACT Disinformation has become a central topic in the European Union (EU) since the mid-2010s due to the disinformation campaigns used by the Russian Federation during the hybrid war against Ukraine in 2014, the Brexit referendum, the 2017 French presidential election and the 2019 European Parliamentary (EP) election. This paper aims to provide an overview and analysis of the EU’s counter-disinformation policy and measures within the theoretical framework of militant and defensive democracy with the aim to fill the gap in the relevant literature. The paper hypothesises that the concepts of militant and defensive democracy are applicable to the EU in its fight against foreign interference and disinformation. The main research questions are: What kind of measures has the EU developed to counter disinformation? Can we identify rights restrictive measures, in other words, does the EU follow a militant strategy in defending its democratic order? The paper finds that democratic self-defence is a crucial contemporary issue for the EU regarding foreign interference and more specifically disinformation, and that the concepts of militant and defensive democracy provide appropriate theoretical framework for analysing not only the challenges of democracy emerging inside the EU, but threats from the outside as well.

Трансформация партийно-политической системы ЕС накануне евровыборов-2024

The article analyzes the main trends in the transformation of the political party system of the European Union on the eve of the next European Parliament election, which will be held in June 2024. Long-term trends include: a decrease in the popularity of traditional political parties – conservatives, social democrats and liberals – in most EU member states; an increase in electoral support for populist parties in the same countries; an increase in the representation of women in EU authorities; strengthening the pan-European political space, which leads to deepened impact of EU political institutions on the political systems of EU member states, etc. Relatively new trends in the transformation of this system are: growing popularity and influence of Eurosceptic parties both in individual European countries and in the European Union as a whole; political conflict between the EU and its member states – Poland and Hungary which violate European democratic principles, including the rule of law with respect to the rights of citizens and the independence of the judicial branch of government. The author scrutinises the influence of changes in the socio-class structure of European society on these processes, which occur partly owing to a visible reduction in the number of the industrial proletariat. It is noted that the consequences of these changes are the destruction of the boundary between the traditional right and left parties, and the death of many classical ideological categories. The study also presents the forecast of results of the leading pan-European political parties’ participation in the 2024 European election, made by a number of European non-governmental organizations and mainstream media holdings following public opinion polls, as well as their possible impact on the formation of a new composition of the European Parliament and the European Commission.

Emerging Right-wing Euroscepticism in European Parliament Elections: Correlation Analysis of European and Domestic Factors

Emerging Right-wing Euroscepticism in European Parliament Elections: Correlation Analysis of European and Domestic Factors

‘Party position, electoral incentives, and attention to European Union issues in the 2019 European Parliament election’

Under what conditions do Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) give attention to EU issues in European Parliament (EP) election campaigns? This study examines how party positioning on European integration and individual electoral incentives affected MEPs’ attention to EU issues in the 2019 EP election campaign. Based on data collected from Twitter, the findings show that pro-EU parties and individual vote-seeking incentives increased attention to EU issues. More specifically, they show that MEPs from pro-EU mainstream parties had incentives to debate about EU issues, especially when they competed for votes. The findings help to unfold the interplay between party-level and legislator-level factors and its effects on attention to EU issues and aim to contribute to research on EU issue salience and EP election campaigns.

European Parliament Elections Incentives for First-Time Voters: Evidence from the Secondary Schools

Summary The research deals with the phenomenon of low voter turnout in European Parliament elections. The article pays attention to young first-time voters who will encounter their first European Parliament elections in June 2024. It examines their attitude to polling in the context of school activities related to public affairs implemented in the school educational activities. Based on the qualitative survey conducted on pupils aged 17-18 attending secondary schools located in ten different member countries the research tackles the question whether the public secondary education may affect the incentives of first-time voters to cast their vote in the European Parliament elections. Consequently, the research focuses on the good practices and possible stimulus given by schools that may encourage to get to vote the representatives in the European Parliament. The outcomes of the research provide suggestions to enhance the formation of voting habits of young voters and increase their interest in both national and European public affairs.

Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Proposal and the 2024 European Parliament Elections

Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence is a current topic on Corporate Responsibility and the protection of human rights and the environment. Recently, the European Commission proposed a directive on this topic and divided opinions mainly regarding the sustainable governance part. Some Member States of the bloc have already adopted rules that embrace the mandatory due diligence process; the proposed directive does not come to eliminate such instruments, but to refine, improve and standardize them. The directive proposal is the first and only of its kind in Europe and with the elections of the European Parliament in the spring of 2024, its discussion and approval becomes urgent.

Glosa do wyroku Trybunału Sprawiedliwości z 9 czerwca 2022 r., w sprawie EP p. Préfet du Gers i Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (INSEE), C-673/20

The commented judgment was formed by the Court of Justice in the term of preliminary ruling, which was asked in the argument between a United Kingdom national who had been resident in France since 1984. As a result of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, the applicant was deprived of her right to vote in European Parliament elections and in municipal elections in their Member State of residence during that period. The issue in dispute concerns citizenship of the European Union and the rights associated with it, including electoral rights. The Court of Justice has unequivocally recognised that when a Member State withdraw from the European Union, its citizens lose their status as citizens of the Union and any privileges attached to it.

The analysis of voting preferences of West Pomerania inhabitants in the years 2001–2020

The article concerns the voting preferences of West Pomerania inhabitants in comparison to the whole country regarding parliament elections, European Parliament elections, presidential elections, except for self-government elections. Taking into account different characteristics of the last type of elections, a separate article has been prepared to discuss them. Applying the comparison method, the election results have been analyzed in terms of political geography. The comparison of territorial diversity of political behaviors has shown how political preferences have evolved with respect to division into provinces, country districts and towns ruled by presidents in reference to, among all, three main political parties (PO RP, PiS and SLD). It has been checked if since 2005 the Platform has really managed to dominate the West Pomeranian political scene and also if any differences in voting preferences occur depending on the place of residence or the type of elections? Subject to the analysis have been election results without the study of factors having impact on them, that is electoral campaigns and events on the political scene (they will be discussed in a separate publication). Regarding the typology of political parties ideological and programme criteria has been applied resulting in west-wing (SLD), central (PO RP) and right-wing division.
 The analysis has shown that there are no significant differences between the results of different types of elections. Regardless, the results from the whole country in West Pomerania in years 1993–2004 left-wing preferences were demonstrated, in years 1993–2004 central and since 2015 central-right. However, analyzing the results depending on the place of residence, together in three types of elections, in 8 the results between country districts and president cities in majority have overlapped and in 6 of them the differences have occurred.

The response of the European parties to the transformation of the socio-political cleavages

ABSTRACT From a bottom-up perspective, cleavage theory links the socio-economic trends existing in the political community with the shape acquired by party politics. Globalization and European integration impacted European society, creating novel socio-economic divides and bringing new social, cultural and economic issues into the political discussion. The impact of the novel cleavage over the pre-existent societal socio-political fractures acquires a central role in the study of European Union politicization. Deploying critical discourse analysis (CDA) and discourse-historical approach (DHA), this study aims to comprehend how the emergence of a novel cleavage has influenced the discourse of the mainstream European parties. The manifestos of the European Christian democratic, socialist and liberal parties from the last three European Parliament elections are analyzed to assess the contemporary relevance of the left-right political competition in a scenario characterized by the salience gained by transnational issues and the electoral success of populist elites.

Populism in Context: A Cross-Country Investigation of the Facebook Usage of Populist Appeals During the 2019 European Parliament Elections

Recent scholarship demonstrated that Facebook is a fertile space for populist political communication as its unmediated and viral nature make populist appeals highly efficient in mobilizing voters. However, less attention has been paid to the way these populist messages appear through political actors’ Facebook communication, and what post- and page-level factors they are associated with. We investigate these questions in the context of the 2019 European Parliament election based on a unique cross-national dataset covering twelve European countries. In this study, we categorized 8,074 Facebook posts published on the main Facebook pages of sixty-seven parties. Our findings show that different populist appeals are used in specific ways. For example, at the post level, anti-elitism is frequently used in relation to economy, labor and social policy, and immigration; people-centric appeals are associated with labor and social policy and used when parties call for action, while out-group messages are not related to other topics beyond immigration. “Ideational populist” communication is more frequently articulated in European level and related to the topics of economy and labor and social policy. At the party level, it seems that there are still sharp differences between populist and non-populist parties in their communication.

European Parliament Elections in the Dutch Press and the Mainstreaming of Euroscepticism: Outsiders Becoming Insiders?

AbstractEuroscepticism has become prominent across the European Union, also in countries that were originally seen as pro‐integrationist such as the Netherlands. Based on a qualitative analysis of claims in three major Dutch newspapers, I examine the mainstreaming of Euroscepticism in the Netherlands in the context of the 2009, 2014 and 2019 European Parliament elections. Mainstreaming refers to a process in which an idea becomes an integral part of debates in the public sphere. I examine the mainstreaming of Euroscepticism through a two‐part analysis that centres around a fourfold typology, which distinguishes between supportive, Euroalternative, soft Eurosceptic and hard Eurosceptic claims. I find that Euroscepticism has indeed become mainstream, in debates revolving around arguments for and against the European Union. Furthermore, Euroscepticism has not just become more prominent but has also moved from an outsider to an insider perspective. Yet, it often remains unclear what Euroscepticism actually entails.

Mainstreaming the populist radical right? Online news exposure and voting behavior in the 2019 European Parliament election

AbstractHow does media exposure relate to support for radical right populist parties (RRPPs)? We contribute to this classic debate by analyzing the web browsing histories and survey responses of six thousand study participants in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK during the 2019 European Parliament election. Linking direct measures of online news exposure to voting behavior allows us to assess the effects of the salience of issues politicized by RRPPs on their electoral support. The likelihood to vote for RRPPs was higher when the EU was more salient in individual media diets, while exposure to the less salient issue of immigration did not increase the propensity to vote for RRPPs. Alongside consistent results for other party families and interactions with pre-existing voting intentions, the findings indicate that the electoral effects of online media are contingent on the overall salience of a specific issue and voters’ predispositions.

Varieties of antigenderism: the politicization of gender issues across three European populist radical right parties

ABSTRACT This research contributes to the study of populist radical right parties’ (PRRPs) role in gendered democratic backsliding by analyzing their articulation and symbolic representation of gender issues. We compare the politicization of gender issues across three European PRRPs, examining how context-specific gendered opportunity structures – the level of contestation of gender issues in their country, the resonance of antigenderism among their electorate, and their issue repertoire and historical trajectory – shape the extent and ways in which the German AfD, the Italian Lega and the Sweden Democrats politicize gender issues. We conduct a quantitative content analysis of PRRPs’ framing of gender issues and construct topic networks based on the parties’ Facebook and Twitter posts during the European Parliament election campaign 2019. We analyze the salience of gender issues, the broader topical context in which they are embedded, the specific gender issues addressed, and the parties’ positions on these issues. Our results show how context-specific gendered opportunities shape PRRPs’ national gender discourses: A low level of contestation, evidenced by a high public recognition and legal protection of gender and sexual equality, seems to foster a femonationalist framing, while antigenderist discourse is less pronounced in such a context. Instead, a higher level of contestation, expressed in a lower public recognition and legal protection of gender and sexual equality, seems to foster antigenderist discourse. A transnational femonationalist framing, shared by all analyzed parties, relates to a common nativist ideological core.