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Cini: European Union Politics 2e

Chapter 11

'Second-order' elections and the European Parliament

Ever since voters were able to elect directly the members of the European Parliament (EP) in 1979, EP elections have been characterised as 'second-order' elections (Reif and Schmitt 1980; van der Eijk and Franklin 1996; Marsh 1998; Carrubba and Timpone 2005). In second-order elections, voters care more about the 'first-order' political matters than the 'second-order' issues being voted on. Not only are the turnouts usually lower than national parliamentary elections, but also major political parties tend to focus their campaigns on domestic rather than European issues. As a consequence, EP elections sometimes turn into mid-term electoral contests where the incumbent parties are confronted by the opposition parties on their domestic performance.

Second-order elections seriously challenge the political legitimacy of the EP. As the only directly elected institutional body, the EP is widely regarded as the key to solving the problem of democratic deficit in the EU. Based on this assumption, treaty reforms have steadily increased the power of the EP over the past two decades. However, institutional reforms have not eased the symptoms of second-order elections. A substantial number of voters continue to treat EP elections as domestic electoral process with little political importance.

Nonetheless, there are emerging signs that some European issues are penetrating the campaigns of EP elections. In particular, small parties on the political periphery are increasingly resorting to European rhetoric to win the support of Eurosceptic voters. Some even got successfully elected. In the EP they formed the Independence/Democracy Group, directly questioning the very rationale of European integration. Ironically, by challenging the EU itself, these small Eurosceptic parties are offering a potential solution to the problem of second-order EP elections.

Web Links

Political groups in the European Parliament
www.europarl.eu.int/groups/default_en.htm

European Election Studies
www.europeanelectionstudies.net/

European Parliament Office in the UK
www.europarl.org.uk/index.htm

Further Learning Resources

Carrubba, Cliff and Timpone, Richard J. (2005), 'Explaining Vote Switching across First- and Second-Order Elections: Evidence from Europe', Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 260-81.

Marsh, Michael (1998), 'Testing the Second-Order Election Model after Four European Elections', British Journal of Political Research, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 591-607.

Reif, Karlheinz and Hermann Schmitt (1980), 'Nine Second Order National Elections: A Conceptual Framework for the Analysis of European Election Results', European Journal of Political Research, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 3-44.

Van der Eijk, Cees and Franklin, Mark (1996), Choosing Europe? European Electorate and National Politics in the Face of Union, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.