DOCSLIB.ORG

La Constitution Europeenne. Elites, Mobilisations, Votes

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
La Constitution Europeenne. Elites, Mobilisations, Votes / " EDITIONS DE L'UNIVERSITE DE BRUXELLES La Constitution , europeenne. Elites, mobilisations, votes EDITE PAR ANTONIN COHEN ET ANTOINE VAUCHEZ lee 1 N 5 T 1 TUT D' E T U 0 E 5 E U R 0 PEE N NES / P EDITIONS DE L'UNIVERSITE DE BRUXELLES La Constitution , europeenne. Elites, mobilisations, votes EDITE PAR ANTONIN COHEN ET ANTOINE VAUCHEZ lee 1 N S T 1 TUT D' E T U 0 E S E U R 0 P E E N NES 1 FOREWORD Integration and Constitutionalism in the European Union Alec STONE SWEET One of the long-running scholarly debates on the evolution of the European Union (EU) concerns how much weight to give specific periods of treaty-making activity, in relation to the overall historical sweep of integration. For the editors of this volume, the 2000-05 period constitutes an episode of seminal importance: EU politics are fundamentally different after the experience of the Constitutional Convention, and the rejection of its work by the French and Dutch electorates. Others, myself included, will view the events of 2005 as the latest in a long series of “crises” that have allegedly afflicted the EU, crises which have sometimes slowed, but have never reversed, the main processes associated with integration. However one understands the importance of the 2000-05 period, most observers would likely agree that it comprised a “constitutional moment”. For the first time, a relatively wide range of actors and groups actively debated their own collective political destiny, as citizens of the European Union. This book brings together an eclectic mix of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives to help readers assess this episode. I will not try to distill a coherent message from the diverse case studies offered. Instead, I will focus attention on three questions raised by this volume. First: what is a constitution? How one understands, theoretically, constitutionalism is a critical first step toward linking the evolution of the European constitution and integration. Second: what is a social field? Contributors to this volume deploy the notion of a social “field” (un champ) quite differently, but none of the authors explicitly defines the term. Third: why should we pay so much attention to the activities of lawyers and judges? In this book, jurists are given pride of place, as actors who, through their training and institutional positioning, have had a distinctive influence on the course of integration. Contributors are, however, rarely explicit about why and how they have chosen to study lawyers. 8 FOREWORD INTEGRATION AND CONSTITUTIONALISM IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 9 European Constitutionalism The rhetoric of constitutionalization – of the Treaty of Rome – has been at the heart of scholarly discourse on legal integration for more than thirty years 1. The discourse implies that a constitution has been constructed out of a treaty. I find the various arguments associated with this rhetoric defensible theoretically, and empirically useful. It would be an artificial, but not impossible 2, exercise to define the term, “constitution”, so as to exclude the Rome Treaty, while including most constitutions of established nation states 3. My preference would be to start with a generic conception of the words, constitution and constitutionalism, and then to situate the EC’s particular experience comparatively, relative to that of other polities. In the 1950s, a core group of diplomats sought to transform the European state system, from one based on military competition and (unstable) balance of power arrangements, to a system based on peace and economic interdependence managed by supranational authority. The move implied a form of constitutionalism. In his classic book of 1950, Constitutional Government and Democracy, C. J. Friedrich put it this way: “The substitution of […] an international organization for an international balancer is, in a sense, merely a specific instance of the general feature of all constitutions; a constitution seeks to balance various governmental powers and organizes a balance of interests […] in the community” 4. I define “constitution”, generically, as a body of meta-norms: the corpus of legal norms that governs how all other legal norms are to be made, applied, and interpreted in a political system 5. By constitutionalism, I mean the commitment, within any given polity, to govern itself according to constitutional rules. Robust, rule-of- law constitutionalism – wherein the exercise of public authority must conform to constitutional norms or be invalid – is rare in the world. Wherever constitutionalism presently exists, it has emerged through a combination of practice and design. The paradigmatic cases have been produced through the gradual consolidation of the power of judges to review the legality of the acts of legislatures and executives. Remarkably, the Community experienced this same process, far more quickly than any other 1 The phrase, the constitutionalization of the Treaty of Rome, refers to the mutation of the EC from an international regime to a quasi-federal polity through the consolidation of the doctrines of direct effect and supremacy. For an overview, see: A. STONE SWEET, The Judicial Construction of Europe, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004, chapter 2. 2 See the exchange between T. SCHILLING, “The Autonomy of the Community Legal Order: An Analysis of Possible Foundations”, and J. WEILER and U. R. HALTERN, “The Autonomy of the Community Legal Order: Through the Looking Glass”, Harvard International Law Journal, 37(2), Spring 1996, p. 38 and 411. 3 The EC/EU differs from most federal polities in that it does not have explicit competence to participate in processes of amending its constitution, a competence that rests with the Member States as Contracting Parties. 4 C. J. FRIEDRICH, Constitutional Government and Democracy, Boston, Ginn, 1950, p. 86. 5 A. STONE SWEET, “What is a Supranational Constitution”, Review of Politics, 55, 1994, p. 441-74; A. STONE SWEET, Governing with Judges, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000, chapter 1. 8 FOREWORD INTEGRATION AND CONSTITUTIONALISM IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 9 political system. It bears emphasis that, in many countries (e.g., France), rights found in European law are more enforceable by national judiciaries than are rights found in national constitutions. By most measures, rule-of-law constitutionalism in the EU is more highly developed than it is in all but a handful of nation-states outside of North America and Western Europe. EU law scholars have long argued that the treaties constitute a “constitution” 6 that sustains, and is supported by, a quasi-federal legal system 7. The European Court, for its part, implicitly treated the Treaty of Rome as a constitutional text right from the start, and, in 1986, it explicitly referred to the treaties as a “constitutional charter”, or as “the constitution of the Community” 8. Given these facts, one might wonder why Europe needed a Constitutional Convention at all (some observers, including Joseph Weiler and myself, did not think it needed a “formal” constitution 9). In my view, any federal or supranational constitution can be judged successful to the extent that it provides stable, institutional underpinnings for productive social, economic, and political activity, across time and space, given changing circumstances. Against this standard, the Treaty of Rome has been wildly successful, and the legal system has become a kind of central nervous system for the transnational governance of European space 10. Others would take a quite different view of a “constitution” and how it functions. They might emphasize the role constitutions play in fixing collective identities, and in providing the deep structure of political, or regime, legitimacy. They may concede that the Treaty of Rome facilitated integration – that is, the treaty helped transnational activity and supranational governance “take-off” – but, by at least the 1990s, it proved far less successful at constituting, or representing the aspirations of, an emerging, cosmopolitan European People. Moreover, the treaties make for 6 F. MANCINI, “The Making of a Constitution for Europe”, in R. KEOHANE and S. HOFFMANN (eds.), The New European Community, Boulder, West View, 1991; E. STEIN, “Lawyers, Judges, and the Making of a Transnational Constitution”, American Journal of International Law, 75, 1981, p. 1; J. WEILER, “The Transformation of Europe”, Yale Law Journal, 100, 1991, p. 2403. 7 Koen Lenaerts, now a judge on the Court of First Instance, treats the EU as a case of supranational constitutionalism that is, theoretically, indistinguishable from constitutional federalism. Lenaerts defines constitutionalism simply, as “limited government operating under the rule of law”: “Constitutionalism and the Many Faces of Federalism”, American Journal of Comparative Law, 38, 1990, p. 205. 8 ECJ, 23 April 1986, Case 294/83, Parti Ecologiste “Les Verts” v. European Parliament. M.-L. FERNANDEZ ESTEBAN, “La Noción de Constitución Europea en la Jurisprudencia del Tribunal de Justicia de las Comunidas Europeas”, Revista Española de Derecho Constitucional, 14, 1994, p. 241. 9 J. WEILER, “Federalism and Constitutionalism: Europe’s Sonderweg”, in K. NICOLAÏDIS and R. HOWSE (eds.), The Federal Vision: Legitimacy and Levels of Governance in the US and the EU, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001. 10 A. STONE SWEET, The Judicial Construction of Europe, op. cit. 10 FOREWORD INTEGRATION AND CONSTITUTIONALISM IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 11 unpleasant reading compared with national counterparts 11. As de Witte has it, national constitutions typically propagate the vision of a Greek temple on the hill, with its structures balanced in harmonious symmetry. But, the European treaty system, however “constitutionalized”, looks like a hoary Gothic cathedral, slapped together haphazardly by different architects, at different times, using different materials, for different purposes 12. Put bluntly, the European Constitution, aesthetically-speaking, is ugly, and Europeans deserve better. These are all fair points. The main issue boils down to how we ought to understand a political system – the EU – which, while not being a nation-state in a classical sense, nonetheless exercises powers normally associated with sovereign states 13.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • European Left Info Flyer
    United for a left alternative in Europe United for a left alternative in Europe ”We refer to the values and traditions of socialism, com- munism and the labor move- ment, of feminism, the fem- inist movement and gender equality, of the environmental movement and sustainable development, of peace and international solidarity, of hu- man rights, humanism and an- tifascism, of progressive and liberal thinking, both national- ly and internationally”. Manifesto of the Party of the European Left, 2004 ABOUT THE PARTY OF THE EUROPEAN LEFT (EL) EXECUTIVE BOARD The Executive Board was elected at the 4th Congress of the Party of the European Left, which took place from 13 to 15 December 2013 in Madrid. The Executive Board consists of the President and the Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer and other Members elected by the Congress, on the basis of two persons of each member party, respecting the principle of gender balance. COUNCIL OF CHAIRPERSONS The Council of Chairpersons meets at least once a year. The members are the Presidents of all the member par- ties, the President of the EL and the Vice-Presidents. The Council of Chairpersons has, with regard to the Execu- tive Board, rights of initiative and objection on important political issues. The Council of Chairpersons adopts res- olutions and recommendations which are transmitted to the Executive Board, and it also decides on applications for EL membership. NETWORKS n Balkan Network n Trade Unionists n Culture Network Network WORKING GROUPS n Central and Eastern Europe n Africa n Youth n Agriculture n Migration n Latin America n Middle East n North America n Peace n Communication n Queer n Education n Public Services n Environment n Women Trafficking Member and Observer Parties The Party of the European Left (EL) is a political party at the Eu- ropean level that was formed in 2004.
    [Show full text]
  • ESS9 Appendix A3 Political Parties Ed
    APPENDIX A3 POLITICAL PARTIES, ESS9 - 2018 ed. 3.0 Austria 2 Belgium 4 Bulgaria 7 Croatia 8 Cyprus 10 Czechia 12 Denmark 14 Estonia 15 Finland 17 France 19 Germany 20 Hungary 21 Iceland 23 Ireland 25 Italy 26 Latvia 28 Lithuania 31 Montenegro 34 Netherlands 36 Norway 38 Poland 40 Portugal 44 Serbia 47 Slovakia 52 Slovenia 53 Spain 54 Sweden 57 Switzerland 58 United Kingdom 61 Version Notes, ESS9 Appendix A3 POLITICAL PARTIES ESS9 edition 3.0 (published 10.12.20): Changes from previous edition: Additional countries: Denmark, Iceland. ESS9 edition 2.0 (published 15.06.20): Changes from previous edition: Additional countries: Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden. Austria 1. Political parties Language used in data file: German Year of last election: 2017 Official party names, English 1. Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs (SPÖ) - Social Democratic Party of Austria - 26.9 % names/translation, and size in last 2. Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP) - Austrian People's Party - 31.5 % election: 3. Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) - Freedom Party of Austria - 26.0 % 4. Liste Peter Pilz (PILZ) - PILZ - 4.4 % 5. Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative (Grüne) - The Greens – The Green Alternative - 3.8 % 6. Kommunistische Partei Österreichs (KPÖ) - Communist Party of Austria - 0.8 % 7. NEOS – Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum (NEOS) - NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum - 5.3 % 8. G!LT - Verein zur Förderung der Offenen Demokratie (GILT) - My Vote Counts! - 1.0 % Description of political parties listed 1. The Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, or SPÖ) is a social above democratic/center-left political party that was founded in 1888 as the Social Democratic Worker's Party (Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei, or SDAP), when Victor Adler managed to unite the various opposing factions.
    [Show full text]
  • The Making of SYRIZA
    Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line Panos Petrou The making of SYRIZA Published: June 11, 2012. http://socialistworker.org/print/2012/06/11/the-making-of-syriza Transcription, Editing and Markup: Sam Richards and Paul Saba Copyright: This work is in the Public Domain under the Creative Commons Common Deed. You can freely copy, distribute and display this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit the Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line as your source, include the url to this work, and note any of the transcribers, editors & proofreaders above. June 11, 2012 -- Socialist Worker (USA) -- Greece's Coalition of the Radical Left, SYRIZA, has a chance of winning parliamentary elections in Greece on June 17, which would give it an opportunity to form a government of the left that would reject the drastic austerity measures imposed on Greece as a condition of the European Union's bailout of the country's financial elite. SYRIZA rose from small-party status to a second-place finish in elections on May 6, 2012, finishing ahead of the PASOK party, which has ruled Greece for most of the past four decades, and close behind the main conservative party New Democracy. When none of the three top finishers were able to form a government with a majority in parliament, a date for a new election was set -- and SYRIZA has been neck-and-neck with New Democracy ever since. Where did SYRIZA, an alliance of numerous left-wing organisations and unaffiliated individuals, come from? Panos Petrou, a leading member of Internationalist Workers Left (DEA, by its initials in Greek), a revolutionary socialist organisation that co-founded SYRIZA in 2004, explains how the coalition rose to the prominence it has today.
    [Show full text]
  • Doers Dreamers Ors Disrupt &
    POLITICO.EU DECEMBER 2018 Doers Dreamers THE PEOPLE WHO WILL SHAPE & Disrupt EUROPE IN THE ors COMING YEAR In the waves of change, we find our true drive Q8 is an evolving future proof company in this rapidly changing age. Q8 is growing to become a broad mobility player, by building on its current business to provide sustainable ‘fuel’ and services for all costumers. SOMEONE'S GOT TO TAKE THE LEAD Develop emission-free eTrucks for the future of freight transport. Who else but MAN. Anzeige_230x277_eTrucks_EN_181030.indd 1 31.10.18 10:29 11 CONTENTS No. 1: Matteo Salvini 8 + Where are Christian Lindner didn’t they now? live up to the hype — or did he? 17 The doers 42 In Germany, Has the left finally found its a new divide answer to right-wing nationalism? 49 The dreamers Artwork 74 85 Cover illustration by Simón Prades for POLITICO All illustrated An Italian The portraits African refugees face growing by Paul Ryding for unwelcome resentment in the country’s south disruptors POLITICO 4 POLITICO 28 SPONSORED CONTENT PRESENTED BY WILFRIED MARTENS CENTRE FOR EUROPEAN STUDIES THE EAST-WEST EU MARRIAGE: IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO TALK 2019 EUROPEAN ELECTIONS ARE A CHANCE TO LEARN FROM LESSONS OF THE PAST AND BRING NATIONS CLOSER TOGETHER BY MIKULÁŠ DZURINDA, PRESIDENT, WILFRIED MARTENS CENTRE FOR EUROPEAN STUDIES The East-West relationship is like the cliché between an Eastern bride and a Western man. She is beautiful but poor and with a slightly troubled past. He is rich and comfortable. The West which feels underappreciated and the East, which has the impression of not being heard.
    [Show full text]
  • Information Guide Euroscepticism
    Information Guide Euroscepticism A guide to information sources on Euroscepticism, with hyperlinks to further sources of information within European Sources Online and on external websites Contents Introduction .................................................................................................. 2 Brief Historical Overview................................................................................. 2 Euro Crisis 2008 ............................................................................................ 3 European Elections 2014 ................................................................................ 5 Euroscepticism in Europe ................................................................................ 8 Eurosceptic organisations ......................................................................... 10 Eurosceptic thinktanks ............................................................................. 10 Transnational Eurosceptic parties and political groups .................................. 11 Eurocritical media ................................................................................... 12 EU Reaction ................................................................................................. 13 Information sources in the ESO database ........................................................ 14 Further information sources on the internet ..................................................... 14 Copyright © 2016 Cardiff EDC. All rights reserved. 1 Cardiff EDC is part of the University Library
    [Show full text]
  • Populism in France Gilles Ivaldi
    Populism in France Gilles Ivaldi To cite this version: Gilles Ivaldi. Populism in France. Daniel Stockemer. Populism Around the World. A Comparative Perspective, Springer, pp.27-48, 2018, 978-3-319-96757-8. 10.1007/978-3-319-96758-5_3. halshs- 01889832 HAL Id: halshs-01889832 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01889832 Submitted on 3 Apr 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Pre-print Populism in France Gilles Ivaldi, URMIS, CNRS-University of Nice [email protected] This is a pre-print version of: Ivaldi, Gilles, “Populism in France”, which has appeared as a book chapter in: Daniel Stockemer (ed.) Populism around the world: A Comparative Perspective, Cham: Springer, pp.27-48 (https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319967578) Abstract This chapter examines the supply and demand sides of populism in France. It looks at the two main populist actors i.e. the Front National (FN) and La France Insoumise (LFI). The FN exemplifies the typical radical right populist organiZation, primarily mobiliZing grievances over immigration, while LFI shows a left-wing egalitarian and socially inclusive profile. Electoral support for populism in France is fuelled by economic instability and voter distrust of mainstream politics and of the EU.
    [Show full text]
  • Party Formation at Supranational Level: the Case of Radical Left Parties
    De Europa Vol. 3, No. 1 (2020), 101-117 ISSN 2611-853X www.deeuropa.unito.it Party Formation at Supranational Level: the Case of Radical Left Parties Fabio Sozzi Introduction The European Left (EL) was formed in 2004, over 30 years later than the European People’s Party (EPP) or the Party of European Socialist (PES). The first communist group appeared within the European Parliament (EP) in 1973 but it has taken 20 years to become a stable form of cooperation, whereas socialist, liberal and popular parties cooperate from the foundation of the EP. How can we explain these different steps forward in transnational cooperation of party families1? In literature, foundation and development of party politics at European level are shaped by institutional factors – i.e. electoral system, EP regulation, EU decision-making – (Delwit et al. 2004; Hix and Lord 1997; Gagatek 2008; Kreppel 2002). Certainly, European political institutions affect parties by constraining their range of strategic options, but why do we encounter different level of development among party families if they operate within the same institutional environment? Why have Socialists and Conservatives improved much more advanced party organizations at the EU level in comparison with Greens or Extreme Right? In this article we argue that to understand the variegate world of party organizations at the EU level it is necessary to look at resistances of or impulses by national parties to the creation of supranational party structures. The EU integration forces national parties to cooperate but “if “and “how” they cooperate depends on national party strategies. The timing and the organizational structure of both the European Parliamentary Groups (EPGs) and Political Parties at European Level (PPELs) are, in this perspective, political products of bargaining among national parties sharing similar ideological positions: they are “negotiated political order” (Daudi 1986).
    [Show full text]
  • Norwegian Euroscepticism Revisited. the Gap Between Policy and Practice
    NORWEGIAN EUROSCEPTICISM REVISITED. THE GAP BETWEEN POLICY AND PRACTICE LISE RYE Norway has a reputation for being Eurosceptic. It earned this reputation for hav- ing rejected membership of the European Union (EU) on two separate occasions. Both rejections followed advisory referenda where a small majority had voted down the government’s negotiations with the EU: In September 1972, 53.5% voted against joining the then European Community (EC), and in November 1994, 52.2% opposed the Norwegian EU accession. This makes Norway the only country which rejected an offer to partake in the European integration project on two separate occasions. Previous research has highlighted the reasons for Nor- way’s reluctance to join the EU. While rationalists emphasize the characteristics of the country’s industrial structure1, constructivists draw the attention to aspects related to identity2 and values.3 This chapter’s point of departure is that Norway, alongside its refusal to join the EU’s political unification project, is the EU’s most integrated outsider.4 This current but less known position is the result of an economic integration process between Norway and the EC that goes back to 1973. In an attempt to compensate for the failed attempt to enter the EC together with Denmark and the United Kingdom in the early 1970s, the Norwegian governments engaged in a political process aiming at formalizing and then gradually extending relations between the remaining members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the EC.5 This process entered a new and more dynamic phase with the 1994 com- mencement of the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA), which in- stitutionalized Norway’s relations with the EU and extended them to new policy areas.6 Norway’s continuous quest for ever-closer relations with the EU nuances its image as a Eurosceptic country and calls for closer examination of its multi- faceted relation with Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • What's Left of the Left: Democrats and Social Democrats in Challenging
    What’s Left of the Left What’s Left of the Left Democrats and Social Democrats in Challenging Times Edited by James Cronin, George Ross, and James Shoch Duke University Press Durham and London 2011 © 2011 Duke University Press All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper ♾ Typeset in Charis by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data appear on the last printed page of this book. Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction: The New World of the Center-Left 1 James Cronin, George Ross, and James Shoch Part I: Ideas, Projects, and Electoral Realities Social Democracy’s Past and Potential Future 29 Sheri Berman Historical Decline or Change of Scale? 50 The Electoral Dynamics of European Social Democratic Parties, 1950–2009 Gerassimos Moschonas Part II: Varieties of Social Democracy and Liberalism Once Again a Model: 89 Nordic Social Democracy in a Globalized World Jonas Pontusson Embracing Markets, Bonding with America, Trying to Do Good: 116 The Ironies of New Labour James Cronin Reluctantly Center- Left? 141 The French Case Arthur Goldhammer and George Ross The Evolving Democratic Coalition: 162 Prospects and Problems Ruy Teixeira Party Politics and the American Welfare State 188 Christopher Howard Grappling with Globalization: 210 The Democratic Party’s Struggles over International Market Integration James Shoch Part III: New Risks, New Challenges, New Possibilities European Center- Left Parties and New Social Risks: 241 Facing Up to New Policy Challenges Jane Jenson Immigration and the European Left 265 Sofía A. Pérez The Central and Eastern European Left: 290 A Political Family under Construction Jean- Michel De Waele and Sorina Soare European Center- Lefts and the Mazes of European Integration 319 George Ross Conclusion: Progressive Politics in Tough Times 343 James Cronin, George Ross, and James Shoch Bibliography 363 About the Contributors 395 Index 399 Acknowledgments The editors of this book have a long and interconnected history, and the book itself has been long in the making.
    [Show full text]
  • The Evolution of the Post-Communist Bulgarian Party System
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by New Bulgarian University Scholar Electronic Repository Antony Todorov, The Evolution of the Post-Communist Party Sustem THE EVOLUTION OF THE POST-COMMUNIST BULGARIAN PARTY SYSTEM Antony Todorov In: Getova M., Uste A. N. (Eds.) The Impact of European Union: Case of Bulgaria, Case of Turkey. Sofia, New Bulgarian University Press, Dokuz Eylül University, 2007. (115-131). Party differentiation in Bulgaria and the other East-European states after communism has al- ready been subject to sufficiently extensive analysis. There also exist explanatory paradigms of the process of party formation. Herbert Kitschelt views the process as a progression through three consecutive stages of party organization: around a charismatic leader, on a client-patron type of basis, and finally - the emergence of a program-based party. He sees the success of the political transition largely as a chance for establishment of party differentiation among pro- gram parties (ideally, since empirically each party is a symbiosis of charisma, clientage, and program elements). This process is also a progression from an unstable to a stabilized democ- racy and regarding political parties implies a high degree of party distinctness and not so pro- nounced individual characteristics. (Kitschelt 1995) On the contrary, in the early stages of the process, parties are typically poorly distinguished in terms of their programs, but have salient characteristic features, largely related to their genealogy. In the beginning they therefore ex- perience a strong need for legitimization in the political space. Michael Waller notes the fact that new parties do not have clear-cut roles.
    [Show full text]
  • Results Elected Members
    Results and Elected Members Second edition based on official statistics where available 13 JuLy, 1989 PE 133.341 C 0 N T E N T S Electorate and turnout in the 12 . 1 Great Britain . 2 Northern Ireland . 3 Great Britain constituency results .................................... 4 Ireland constituency results .......................................... 14 Belgium ............................................................... 16 Denmark ............................................................... 18 France ................................................................ 20 Germany . 22 Greece ................................................................ 24 Ireland ............................................................... 26 Italy ................................................................. 28 Luxembourg . 31 Netherlands ........................................................... 33 Portugal .............................................................. 35 Spain ......................... : . ...................................... 37 United Kingdom ........................................................ 39 EUROPEAN ELECTIONS Electorate and turnout in EC states in 1979, 1984 and 1989 Country Electorate Turnout V\J.lid votes Belgium 1989 7,096,273 90.7 5,899,285 1984 6,975,677 92.2 5,725,837 1979 6,800,584 91.4 5,442,867 Denmark 1989 3,923,549 46.2 1,789,395 1984 3,878,600 52.4 2,001,875 1979 3,754,423 47.8 1,754,350 France 1989 38,348,191 48.7 18,145,588 1984 36,880,688 56.7 20,180,934 1979 35,180,531 60.7 20,242,347 Germany 1989 45,773,179 62.3 28,206,690 1984 44,451,981 56.8 24,851,371 1979 42,751,940 65.7 27,847,109 Greece 1989 8,347.387 79.9 6,544,669 1984 7,790,309 77.2 5,956,060 1981 7,319,070 78.6 5,753,478 Ireland 1989 2,453,451 68.3 1,632, 728 1984 2,413,404 47.6 1,l20,-ll6 1979 2,188, 798 63.6 1 '339.
    [Show full text]
  • SYRIZA and the Rise of Radical Left-Reformism in Europe
    SYRIZA and the Rise of Radical Left-Reformism in Europe Donal Mac Fhearraigh The rise of SYRIZA, Greece's Coalition ternative to austerity and the crisis of of the Radical Left, in the May elections capitalism has provoked panic among the and in polls since, has electrified the left Euro-elites and the Greek ruling class. globally. Tsipras stunned Europe's rulers when, af- The election on 6 May revealed that ter receiving the mandate from the Greek the mass of the Greek people rejected president to try and form a government, the austerity programme imposed under after New Democracy proved unable to do the Memorandum of Understanding be- so, he declared the austerity measures be- tween their government and the European ing imposed on Greece `null and void'. Union (EU) and the International Mone- The campaign of Jean-Luc Melenchon tary Fund (IMF). SYRIZA's leader, Alex in the French Presidential election shows Tsipras, has denounced the programme that the re-emergence of a left-reformist as `barbarous' and his refusal to form a current in politics isn't peculiar to Greece, coalition with the parties that support the as the EU ruling class strategy of deep- Memorandum has forced Greece into a sec- ening austerity erodes traditional political ond election on 17 June. loyalties and creates rising political polar- The last opinion poll published on Fri- isation. Overall unemployment across the day 1 June showed SYRIZA on 31.5 per- eurozone stands at its highest level since cent, its highest performance yet, and a 1999 when the currency was launched with full six points ahead of the right-wing New 17.4 million out of work2 .
    [Show full text]