James Godowic

Publication Date

2016

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Clark, Michael

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Political Science

LCSH

European Union countries--Politics and government; Political parties--European Union countries

Abstract

Why have political parties on the European level not been able to institutionalize as full parties that present candidates and campaigns to the public? When voters cast ballots, they do not vote for a European political party but rather for the national party that only campaigns in the borders of their own country. This has terrible consequences for the accountability of the European Union to its citizens, an institution that has been accused of having a democratic deficit for many years. This paper examines the institutional development of the European Union, alongside the theories of political party development, and finds that the most salient cleavage among the European public, that of the relationship between the nation-state and the European Union, has been kept off the agenda of European elections. National leaders have sought to control the course of European political development while trying to keep their own national parties unified on the subject of national sovereignty, resulting in elections that are referenda on national governments as opposed to contests between competing visions of Europe. These findings indicate that a more Presidential style of election may be the only way for "Europarties" to extend into the public and allow voters to hold the European Union accountable using traditional democratic means.

Comments

Advisors: Michael Clark.||Committee members: Kikue Hamayotsu; Scot Schraufnagel.||Includes bibliographical references.||Includes illustrations.

Extent

v, 55 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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