Towards a European electorate. One electorate or many?

Wouter Van der Burg, Mark Franklin, Marina Popescu, Gábor Tóka

Research output: Contribution to Book/Report typesChapterpeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

The previous two chapters focused on the practice of political representation in the European Union (EU) from the perspective of the ‘supply side ‘ of the electoral market: parties and their political programmes and how the media communicate what is at stake at the elections. In this chapter we focus on the ‘demand side ‘: the electorates of the different European countries. Thomassen argued in the introductory chapter that the behaviour of voters should meet a number of requirements for them to be represented meaningfully. In the first place, voters should base their choice on policy considerations. It is very unlikely that political parties represent the opinions of their voters if these opinions do not guide electoral choice.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Legitimacy of the European Union After Enlargement
EditorsThomassen Jacques
Place of PublicationOxford
PublisherOxford University Press
Chapter4
Pages66-93
Number of pages28
ISBN (Print)0199548994
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009

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