European Integration and Political Conflict

Gary Marks is Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and founding Director of the UNC Center for European Studies. Marks' recent books include Multi-Level Governance and European Integration (with Liesbet Hooghe, 2001), and It Didn't Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed in the United States (with Seymour Martin Lipset, 2000). Marco R. Steenbergen is Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Europe has experienced the most radical reallocation of authority that has ever taken place in peacetime over the past half-century. However, the ideological conflicts emerging from this development are only now becoming apparent. This collection brings together an authoritative group of scholars of European and comparative politics to investigate patterns of conflict arising in the European Union. The contributors to the volume conclude that political contestation concerning European integration is rooted in the basic conflicts that have shaped political life in Western Europe for many years.

Introduction: models of political conflict in the European Union Marco R. Steenbergen and Gary Marks; Part I. Citizens: 1. The structure of citizen attitudes and the European political space Christopher J. Anderson and Matthew J. Gabel; 2. Potential for contestation on national matters at national elections in Europe Cees Van Der Eijk and Mark N. Franklin; 3. Don't rock the boat: expectations, fears and opposition to EU level policymaking Leonard Ray; 4. Varieties of capitalism and political divides over European Integration Adam P. Brinegar, Seth K. Jolly and Herbert Kitschelt; Part II. Political Parties: 5. Defining the EU political space: an empirical study of the European elections manifestos, 1979-99 Matthew J. Gabel and Simon Hix; 6. Does Left/Right structure party positions on European integration? Liesbet Hooghe, Gary Marks and Carole J. Wilson; 7. Political competition in the European Parliament: evidence from roll call and survey analyses Jacques J. A. Thomassen, Abdul G. Noury and Erik Voeten; 8. Contesting Europe? The salience of European integration as a party issue Marco R. Steenbergen and David Scott; Part III. Groups: 9. Contestation potential of interest groups in the EU: emergence, structure and political alliances Bernhard Wessels; 10. Contestation in the streets: European protest and the emerging Euro-polity Doug Imig; 11. Conclusion: European integration and political conflict Gary Marks.