Europeanization and political parties

Abstract

This Living Review makes the case for the study of Europeanization and political parties as related but distinct from the study of political parties and European integration. It then presents the Europeanization approach to parties, noting that some of the components in this approach developed to study policy and institutional change may not lend themselves so well to the study of national parties. This argument distinguishes between direct and indirect effects of European Union influence on parties. Next, it briefly discusses the application of party Europeanization research to post-communist parties. This is followed by a discussion of proposed normative consequences of party Europeanization. Finally, suggestions for further research focuses on the need for refining the analytic framework in order to better identify the causal mechanisms specific to party Europeanization.