An integrated model of National Party Response to European integration

Developments in the policy and polity dimensions of European integration constitute the ‘European context’ of national politics. The present paper contributes to the broader debates on Europeanization by exploring whether and to what extent this context induces political party (policy and/or organizational) change. To date, research on the Europeanization of political parties has not yet been sufficiently linked to the general theories of party change. Hence, the paper theoretically embeds the study of political party Europeanization into extant theories of party change. It constructs a model accounting for variation in party response to the institutional and policy challenges brought about by European integration. The model distinguishes between different levels of party Europeanization (Awareness and Action) and stresses the role of intra-party power relations as well as primary party goals as important mediating factors.