Responding to the crisis: Eurosceptic parties of the left and right and their changing position towards the European Union

At the time of the election of the European Parliament (EP) in 2014, the European Union (EU) was heavily affected by a multifaceted crisis that had – and still has – far-reaching implications for the political system of its member countries, but also for the European level of governance. Against the background of the strong Eurosceptic vote in the 2014 EP elections, this study aims to investigate in which way Eurosceptic parties of the left and the right respond to the multiple crises of the EU. Using data from the Euromanifesto Project from 2004/2009 and 2014, changes in the party positions towards the EU are analysed in the shadow of the multiple crises and the reasons thereof are explored. The findings show a general anti-European shift among the two types of Eurosceptic parties. Nevertheless, the changes in the EU polity tone are not determined by issue-based repercussions of the multiple crises, but by the EU-related evaluation – the polity mood – of the national citizenry. For far-right Eurosceptic parties, the shift is moderated by the level of public support for EU integration in their national environment. Among far-left Eurosceptic parties, by contrast, it is moderated by the more specific public attitudes about the monetary union policy of the EU. Consequently, political parties when drafting their manifestos for EP elections are not so much guided by the objective severity of political problems or by the evaluations of these problems by the citizenry. What matters in the end is the link that citizens themselves are able to establish between the severity of political problems, on the one hand, and the responsibility of the EU for these problems on the other. This has important consequences for understanding of the nature and substance of political responsiveness within the EU system of multilevel governance.     

AT A SNAIL'S PACE: ON THE LIMITED EUROPEANIZATION OF DOMESTIC CONSULTATION PRACTICES

Consultation of major interest groups is a widespread administrative practice in many EU member states. To date it is unclear, however, how advancing European integration influences domestic consultation practices. This article examines the impact of European integration on domestic consultation practices by conceptualizing how the underlying rationales of government–interest group interactions and the level of involvement of interest groups are affected by European integration. The study draws on original survey data on senior civil servants in Britain and the Netherlands to empirically examine these effects. European integration is related in a limited way to domestic consultation practices, both in Britain and the Netherlands. This small but significant effect is mostly observed during the process of domestic preference formulation in EU‐level policy making. Our findings suggest that intra‐organizational processes, for example organizational routines and task‐specialization, potentially play a greater role than has thus far been appreciated in Europeanization studies.     

The Captive or the Broker? Explaining Public Agency–Interest Group Interactions

The literature offers individually valid yet collectively inconsistent hypotheses concerning the nature of public agencies' responsiveness to interest groups. This article analyzes the nature of this responsiveness by examining the brokerage potential of public agencies among interest groups. Such a brokerage potential is hypothesized to follow from agencies' preferences for policy goods as well as the tendency of interest groups to seek access to public agencies. It combines analyses of agencies' demand for policy goods with interest groups preferences for seeking access to specific policy venues. The analyses are based on survey data of national civil servants and interest groups in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands. The findings suggest that both strategic preferences as well as organizational routines positively correlate with a brokerage potential while interaction patterns within and with the organizational environment of public agencies can constrain their brokerage potential in several distinct ways.     

Economic interdependence, international regimes, and domestic strategies of industrial adjustment

Abstract. This review attempts to assess the validity and usefulness of the arguments of the so-called 'International Regimes' approach and the political-institutional view with respect to economic policy formation and economic performance. In particular, the works of Keohane and Krasner on the one hand, and of Katzenstein on the other are examined. It turns out that both viewpoints can largely contribute to a better understanding of why economic interdependence is such a vital factor for domestic politics and policies. At the same time it appears also to be evident that 'corporatism' can be an asset in weathering the effects of these growing international economic pressures. Yet both approaches have serious theoretical and methodological weaknesses. The concept of 'International Regime' remains too vague and, in addition, is empirically difficult to pin down. Moreover, it seems unable to account for much extant discord.'Corporatism' is also prone to these faults as well as tending to over explain certain developments, which may render cross-national differences in economic performance as incomprehensible. Notwithstanding these shortcomings, there is so much to build on that both approaches merit further attention and discussion.