Opposing Europe? The comparative party politics of Euroscepticism. Vol.2: Comparative and theoretical perspectives

Abstract:
The project of European integration now spans Europe, but in becoming bigger and broader the European Union has brought on itself significant criticism. As the EU becomes deeper, wider, and more ambitious, so opposition and scepticism become more prominent for citizens and more problematic for elites. Concerns about a 'democratic deficit' and the distance between European elites and publics have come to be a common feature of European politics. As a consequence Euroscepticism has become a part of the terrain of conflict between political parties across Europe.

Opposing Europe? provides the first comprehensive review of party-based Euroscepticism across the breadth of contemporary Europe and the first in-depth comparative academic study of Euroscepticism. This, the second of two volumes, is made up of comparative chapters which address different aspects of Euroscepticism. The volume looks across Europe and includes EU member states and candidate and non-member states in order to draw out comparative lessons that relate to the nature of political parties, party systems, and the domestic politics of European integration.

This is a groundbreaking book that provides a definitive review of a key issue in European politics. It is also one of the few attempts to integrate the fields of EU studies with both West European and East European studies in order to draw lessons about the way in which the EU interacts with domestic politics in both member and non-member states. Examining the way that parties position themselves and compete on the European issue provides powerful lessons for the trajectory of the European integration project more generally, and on the prospects for the emergence of a European political system and polity.

Contents:
Introduction: Researching Euroscepticism in European Party Systems: A Comparative and Theoretical Research Agenda - Aleks Szczerbiak and Paul Taggart
The Political Opportunity Structure of Euroscepticism: Institutional Setting and Political Agency in European Politics - Charles Lee
Proetctionsim, Populism, or Participation? Agrarian Parties and the European Question in Wetsern and East Central Europe - Nick Sitter and Agnes Batory
European Party Cooperation and Post-Communist Politics: Euroscepticism in Transnational Perspective - Geoffrey Pridham
Exceptionalism or Convergence? Euroscepticism and Party Systems in Central and Eastern Europe - Karen Henderson
Explaining the Failure of Euroscepticism in the European Parliament - Giacomo Benedetto
Euroscepticism in Parliament: A Comparative Analysis of the European and National Parliaments - Richard S. Katz
How Deep is the Wider Europe? Elites, Europeanization, and Euroscepticism in the CEECs - James Hughes (et al.)
There is not much Eurosceptic Non-voting in European Parliament Elections - Hermann Scmitt and Cees van der Eijk
Theorizing Party-based Euroscepticism: Problems of Definition, Measurement, and Causality - Aleks Szczerbiak and Paul Taggart