One of the major findings of the literature on Euroscepticism is that support for European integration generally declines as one moves closer to the extremes of the left-right ideological spectrum.... Show moreOne of the major findings of the literature on Euroscepticism is that support for European integration generally declines as one moves closer to the extremes of the left-right ideological spectrum. However, in multidimensional policy space, Euroscepticism varies in more complex ways. This article explores the relief of Euroscepticism for citizens in four European states – the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and France – based on data from voting advice applications fielded before the 2019 elections of the European Parliament. The results reveal that the way Euroscepticism maps onto other dimensions differs significantly for citizens and for parties and across political contexts. Such variation is important for understanding how preferences for European integration are embedded into existing structures of political competition. Show less
This article introduces a special issue that investigates the interplay between domestic socio-political orders and changing external influences – of the EU, Russia, Turkey and other external... Show moreThis article introduces a special issue that investigates the interplay between domestic socio-political orders and changing external influences – of the EU, Russia, Turkey and other external actors in the region. In this introduction, we lay the conceptual framework and propose theoretical mechanisms linking state capacity and the actions of external actors to the likelihood of transformations from limited to open access orders. Previewing the findings, we note a fundamental asymmetry: while external actors have many levers to undermine the establishment of an open access order, they are more limited in how they can support reforms towards liberal democracy and free-market economy. Show less
State capacity declines with democratization, yet high state capacity supports the stability of both democracies and autocracies. Ukraine has been a paradigmatic example of capacity decline in... Show moreState capacity declines with democratization, yet high state capacity supports the stability of both democracies and autocracies. Ukraine has been a paradigmatic example of capacity decline in democratization and Belarus of an authoritarian regime with high capacity. We set out to discover which aspects of state capacity might contribute to opening or stability. Conceptualizing capacity as containing administrative, informational and public service aspects, we compare the two countries to find that capacity appears to be converging. While recent reforms in Ukraine develop aspects with universalizing effects, some aspects with a stabilizing effect – health care – are still better in Belarus. Show less
In the past years access to EU law has been significantly enhanced via services such as EUR-Lex. This development not only allows for easy retrieval of individual legal acts, but for collecting... Show moreIn the past years access to EU law has been significantly enhanced via services such as EUR-Lex. This development not only allows for easy retrieval of individual legal acts, but for collecting information about the evolution of EU law in the aggregate as well. This contribution argues that by charting and analysing the evolution of the body of EU law over time, we can understand better the nature and development of the EU as a political system. The text examines the legislative productivity of the EU over the past 15 years as an illustration. Further, it showcases recent examples of the use of novel data-analytic techniques to analyse the body of EU law for the purposes of understanding the EU legal system, the institutions, and the polity that produced the legal acts. The contribution concludes by arguing that it is important to transmit basic facts and insights about the evolution of EU law and law-making to the general public as well, in order to counter the threat of Euroscepticism and perceptions of democratic deficit in the EU. Show less
Costello, R.; Toshkov, D.; Bos, B.; Krouwel, A. 2020
The level of congruence between parties and their voters can vary greatly from one policy issue to another, which raises questions regarding the effectiveness of political representation. We seek... Show moreThe level of congruence between parties and their voters can vary greatly from one policy issue to another, which raises questions regarding the effectiveness of political representation. We seek to explain variation in party-voter congruence across issues and parties. We focus on the hypotheses that (1) average proximity between the positions of voters and the party they vote for will be highest on the issues that the party emphasises in the election campaign and that (2) this relationship will be stronger for niche parties. We test these hypotheses using data on the policy preferences of voters, party positions, party attention profiles and salience on concrete policy issues in four countries: The Netherlands, Ireland, Germany and Sweden. Overall, we find that voter-party proximity tends to be higher on issues that the party emphasises. As these are the issues where parties typically have the greatest policy impact, this implies that the quality of representation is highest where it matters most. There is some limited evidence that the positive relationship between issue salience and proximity is stronger for niche parties. In sum, the quality of policy representation varies strongly with party-level issue salience and to a lesser extent with the type of political party. Show less
Dimitrova, A.; Toshkov, D.; Mazepus, H.; Maniokas, K.; Boroda, M.; Chulitskaya, T.; ... ; Wolczuk, K. 2018
The fall of the Berlin wall marked the beginning of massive multiple transitions in the countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,... Show moreThe fall of the Berlin wall marked the beginning of massive multiple transitions in the countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia were all caught in a process of turbulent changes that would leave no aspect of their societies undisturbed. The omnipresent totalitarian state was to be replaced by a liberal democratie government and uncoupled from the structures of the Party. The free market was to re-emerge from the ashes of the centrally-planned economies. The very identity of these nations was called into question and re-defined. New borders were drawn between nations; between state and society; between public and private. Show less
