Assessing Political Representation in Europe

Christine Arnold is an assistant professor at the University of Maastricht, Netherlands. Her research interests are in comparative politics, public opinion, political representation and methods. Work for this book was partially completed while she was a Marie Curie Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy.Mark N. Franklin was the Stein Rokkan Professor of Comparative Politics at the European University Institute, Italy. He is an emeritus professor of Trinity College Connecticut, USA, now visiting at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Dr. Franklin's research interests lie in British, European and American government, political methodology, and the attitudes and behavior of elites and mass publics. Work for this book was completed while he was a Fellow in Residence at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences and Humanities.

• 1. Introduction: Issue Congruence and Political Responsiveness 2. European Parliament Elections and Political Representation: Policy Congruence between Voters and Parties 3. Mechanisms of Issue Congruence: The Democratic Party Mandate 4. Partisan Sorting and Niche Parties in Europe 5. Intra-Party Democracy and Party Responsiveness 6. Institutional Context and Representational Strain in Party–Voter Agreement in Western and Eastern Europe 7. Parties’ Positions on European Integration: Issue Congruence, Ideology or Context? 8. Strategic Incentives, Issue Proximity and Party Support in Europe 9. The Causal Flow between Public Opinion and Policy: Government Responsiveness, Leadership, or Counter Movement 10. Political Institutions and the Opinion–Policy Link