Representative Democracy in the European Union: New Frontiers

Abstract

In the last 15 years, crises have been plentiful in the European Union (EU). This constant state of polycrisis is connected to an underlying crisis of political representation in the EU and its member states. This crisis manifests itself in dwindling linkages between parties and voters, changing lines of political conflict along a multidimensional polycleavage and a growing tension between responsibility and responsiveness. This panel explores new frontiers in researching representative democracy in the EU and its crises. It welcomes papers that discuss and study conceptual, theoretical, and empirical innovations to reframe political representation in the multilevel system of EU governance beyond the supranational – intergovernmental divide. This means understanding representation as a multidimensional and multilevel phenomenon with diverse methodological approaches. Papers may study political representation at the EU level or compare European-level forms of political representation to national processes and institutions.

Title	Details
The European Parliament and the Construction of the European Citizen	View Paper Details
The two-sided gap: A longitudinal analysis of mass-elite congruence on European integration, 1979 – 2017	View Paper Details
With or Without Europe? Euroscepticism and the awkward case of Italy	View Paper Details
The European Parliament as the Lynchpin for EU Responsiveness to Protest: A Theoretical Account of the Impact of Protest on Policy-Making in the EU	View Paper Details