Political parties in the European Union system : a 'comparative politics approach' to the development of the party federations

Abstract

Chapter 1 begins with a discussion of the limitations of the traditional approaches to parties and politics in the EU, and introduces an alternative framework which combines the theory and method of ‘comparative politics’. In Chapter 2, the two theoretical levels are brought together in a “comparative politics theory of parties in the European Union”. This theory is subsequently tested in three empirical chapters, each covering a different aspect of party federation behaviour in the EU: party organisational development (Chapter 3); the changing shape of party policy competition (Chapter 4); and the ability of parties to reap policy rewards from the European Council (Chapter 5). A description of the data and the methods used in the analysis is set out in a series of Appendices. Finally, the empirical and theoretical conclusions of the research are drawn together in Chapter 6.