Parties between nations? Introducing the multilevel party field

Abstract

Speaker: Gilles Pittoors Discussant: Ben Crum The European Union (EU) is facing a deficit of democratic legitimacy, owing largely to a disconnect between its citizens and political leaders. At the same time, also the party democracy model on which much of (West-)European politics is based seems to be under pressure, with dwindling party membership, low electoral turnout and the growth of anti-system parties. Paradoxically, however, by fostering the development of ‘Europarties’ and, more recently, supporting the idea of transnational lists, the EU seems to be trying to solve its own democratic deficit precisely by evolving towards a party democracy ‘EU-style’. This paper aims to unpack this paradox and address the role of political parties as organisational foundations for EU democracy. Arguing that an EU party democracy cannot realistically be built top-down through 'federal' Europarties, but simultaneously requires more than mere networks of national parties, it suggests a mid-way concept: the 'multilevel party field'. This field approaches partisan politics in the EU as driven by sets of national and European partisan actors that converge around a common political ideology or interest, and whose interactions are structured based on a common regulatory framework. Taking an explicit transnational approach, it considers national parties as organisational anchors for an EU party democracy. As such, the multilevel party field holds potential as both a descriptive and an explanatory model for party organisation and behaviour in the EU's multilevel polity.