Dual legitimation in the European Union: The impact of European integration attitudes in national and European elections

Martin Rosema, Catherine E. de Vries, Agnieszka Walczak

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    Abstract

    Ever since the first popular election of the European Parliament (EP) in 1979,
    voters are presented with two channels to legitimize decision-making within
    the European Union (EU). In national elections voters authorize and hold
    accountable their national representatives, who represent their interests in the
    European Council. Through EP elections voters elect and hold accountable
    their European representatives. These two electoral channels constitute a
    system of dual legitimation of EU policy-making. This study examines the
    extent to which voters actually use both of these channels in order to express
    their attitudes regarding European integration and hold European or national
    political elites accountable. Utilizing European Election Survey data from
    2009, we show that in a majority of EU member states the process of dual
    legitimation is indeed functioning in practice. Importantly, the empirical
    findings demonstrate that when voters translate their attitudes regarding
    European integration in vote choice, they do so in both channels. In some
    countries, however, like Bulgaria or France, issue voting based on EU
    preferences is absent from both channels. Only in two countries, the Czech
    Republic and Malta, we find that voters only express their EU attitudes in one
    of the electoral channels present. Overall, these results indicate that with a few
    exceptions the voters behave in accordance to the system of dual legitimation
    of EU policy-making in most EU member states. Hence, this study has
    important implications for our understanding of how issues regarding
    European integration affect electoral politics, as well as for the ongoing debate
    regarding legitimacy and accountability in EU politics.
    Original languageEnglish
    Number of pages33
    Publication statusPublished - 18 Nov 2010
    EventThe PIREDEU Conference - Brussels, Belgium
    Duration: 18 Nov 201019 Nov 2010

    Conference

    ConferenceThe PIREDEU Conference
    CityBrussels, Belgium
    Period18/11/1019/11/10

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