The European Parliament elections are coming.

In this Virtual Special Issue, QOE-IJES suggests to readers a collection of articles published in its historical archive investigating the EP elections and, more in general, the impact of the European dimension on national politics.

The contributions by Ghini and Casciaro investigate the electoral systems, either with specific reference to the Italian case or from a comparative perspective. Discussions on the electoral systems for the election of the European Parliament are still salient today, considering that member states adopt the proportional system, albeit with different use of the electoral threshold and preference vote, as well as a different articulation of electoral districts. Baccarini's research note investigates how such differences in electoral rules for the EP elections influence the EU's democratic deficit, especially in light of the UK's recent withdrawal from the Union.

In the issue, particular emphasis is given to the Italian case: Riccamboni analyses the electoral behaviour of Italian voters in European elections, while Conti, Di Mauro, and Memoli instead propose an interesting reading of Euroscepticism connected to the phenomenon of populism, highlighting the differences between citizens and elites.

The theme of Euroscepticism is moreover explored in the article by Guerra, which looks specifically at its motives among British citizens. Bright, Garzia, Lacey, and Trechsel look at the representation deficit in comparative terms, by analyzing electoral results and party system dynamics in the 2009 and 2014 EP elections.

Finally, the broader theme of the Europeanization of national politics is addressed in the article by Torcal and Rodin, who comparatively analyse national and EP elections to gauge the effect of the European issue on voting behaviour.

In conclusion, we offer a useful map to orient yourself towards the upcoming elections for the next European Parliament, which promise to be crucial for the future of the European Union itself.

 

 

Articles

La partecipazione italiana all’elezione del Parlamento Europeo

Celso Ghini

 

L'elezione del Parlamento europeo: i dodici sistemi elettorali attuali ed i progetti per un sistema elettorale uniforme

Ines Casciaro

 

The European Parliament as the Voice of the European Citizens? Examining the European Parliament’s role as a representative of the European Citizens in the 2019 elections

Roberto Baccarini

 

Il voto europeo in Italia (1979-1994)

Gianni Riccamboni

 

The representative deficit in different European Party Systems: an analysis of the elections to the European Parliament 2009-2014

Jonathan Bright, Diego Garzia, Joseph Lacey, Alexander H. Trechsel

 

Understanding public Euroscepticism

Simona Guerra

 

Zooming in on the ‘Europeanisation’ of national politics: A comparative analysis of six EU countries

Mariano Torcal, Toni Rodon

 

Euroscepticism and populism in Italy among party elites and the public

Nicolò Conti, Danilo Di Mauro, Vincenzo Menoli