Explaining Political Party Performance in European Communication: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Party Political Cueing in domestic EU Treaty Ratification.

Abstract

Political parties messages or cues constitute important factors shaping public attitudes not only on domestic matters but also on issues of European integration and constitutionalisation. The question explored in the book is, how national political parties communication matters for European integration. The study aims at providing explanations for the politicisation of European contentious politics here EU treaty ratification by analysing patterns of variation in political parties public communication at the domestic level. Two research questions guide the qualitative comparative analysis of 40 political parties in six East- and West European EU member states: Which parties succeed and which fail in the competition over cueing the public on contentious EU issues? What are the underlying causal factors related to party competition ideology? incumbent or opposition status? party system? context? that determine the variation in party political cueing performance? The analysis contributes to research on the Europeanisation of domestic politics, and in particular of how different political parties within and across states have adapted and reacted to European integration. The study of public opinion, mass media, and political parties has become prominent in European integration and comparative Europeanisation studies. The proposed book brings these different strands together with normative democratic theory and an innovative methodological approach, for better understanding political conflict and communication in European political integration.