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European citizenship and identity after enlargement
Full text linkIn this paper we distinguish two rival theories on the relationship between European citizenship in the sense of a legal construct on the one hand and a European collective identity on the other hand. According to the first theory a collective identity is a necessary condition for the development of a legitimate European political community. The second theory claims that there is indeed an empirical relationship between these two concepts, but the causal sequence is not necessarily unidirectional. Once a political community is established it can breed a sense of community. In this paper we test the hypothesis that formal citizenship breeds both a sense of European citizenship and a sense of European community. Our analyses do not offer firm evidence in support of the hypothesis in either case. The time of entry of the Union rather than the length of membership as such explains differences in the sense of European citizenship. A similar conclusion applies to the development of a sense of European community. Trust in the people from the new member states in Central and Eastern Europe among the citizens of the older member states is very low. The 2004 enlargement therefore meant a serious blow to the development of a European community
Introduction
No full textThis introductory chapter begins with a description of main purpose of this book, which is to describe and explain the electoral changes in Western Europe in the second half of the 20th century. It then discusses political change in Europe, modernization and political change, declining voter turnout, and party choice. An overview of the chapters in this volume is presented
Representation and Accountability
No full textThis introductory chapter presents the conceptual framework of the book and summarizes its main findings. The book examines the contrast between the view that elections are a mechanism to hold government accountable and the idea that they are a means to ensure that citizens’ views and interests are properly represented in the democratic process. It considers the extent to which this contrast and its embodiment in institutional structures affect vote choice, political participation, and satisfaction with the functioning of democracy. The book is largely based on data from the second module of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES). The main conclusion the book comes to states that formal political institutions are less relevant for people’s attitudes and behaviour than often thought. Rather than formal political institutions like the electoral system, it appears to be characteristics of the party system like polarization and the clarity of responsibility that are really important
Modernization or Politics?
No full textThis chapter summarises the discussions on the development of patterns of voting behaviour in European countries, and the validity of the two alternative theoretical approaches to explaining the changes in electoral behaviour. The analyses will be done separately for the two successive decisions voters have to make at election time. First, the decision on whether they will vote at all, and second, which party of candidate they will vote for
Politieke veranderingen en het functioneren van de parlementaire democratie in Nederland
Full text linkParty Identification
No full textThis chapter tests the validity of two alternative theoretical perspectives on the evolution of party identification. According to the first perspective, which is based on the theory of modernization, one should expect a secular decline of the level of party identification. The reason is that modern, well educated citizens do not need the cue of party identification anymore. The second perspective focuses on political rather than social correlates of party identification, and predicts less linear developments. Adversary politics is supposed to be favourable for the development of partisanship, while a broad political consensus across the major parties is expected to suppress the development of party identification. Whereas the first perspective predicts a linear decline of partisanship, the second one does not. The empirical evidence with regard to the first perspective is mixed. Although party identifiers have become less numerous over time, this development is anything but monotonous in most countries. Moreover, the micro-theory underlying the theory of modernisation is not corroborated. Contrary to expectations, cognitive mobilisation does not lead to a lower level of party identification. However, the evidence supporting the second perspective is equally ambivalent. The political correlates of the development of party identification are modest at best, and cannot fully explain what is going on in the six West European countries under study
Globalization, Representation, and Attitudes towards Democracy
Full text linkOne of the main challenges for modern democracies is their supposedly declining support among the citizenry. Two rival explanations for declining political support are the modernization thesis and the globalization thesis. According to the first thesis, the greatest loss in support for the democratic system is expected to be located among the better educated, the more skilled, and those with higher incomes. The second thesis predicts the opposite, i.e. that the greatest loss in support is to be found among those at the margins of the economic order: the less educated, the less skilled, and those with lower incomes. The chapter finds more evidence in support for the second than the first thesis. It is the citizens on the margin of the economic order that feel less well represented and are less satisfied with democracy. But the differences between different groups in society are rather small
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