East-West Comparisons – Electoral Behaviour in EP Elections and Beyond

Abstract

This panel aims to bring together comparative researchers who study similarities and differences in electoral behaviour between citizens of consolidating democracies in Central-Eastern Europe (CEE) and citizens of established democracies in Western Europe. Moreover it aspires to reveal differences and similarities between these groups of countries in attitudes towards the European Union. CEE countries joined the EU without having a profound public and political debate about the “pros” and “cons” of European integration. The underdeveloped and unstructured discourse resulted in a weakly structured debate and little competition on the EU agenda in the EP election campaign. Despite a significant pro-EU bias on the side of the public, the CEE countries have shown a much lower turnout than Western European countries. What are the factors behind such East-West differences/similarities in electoral behaviour in the EP elections? What has changed since 2009 in contestation over the EU? What forms and contents of Euroscepticism could be identified East and West?

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