ABSTRACT

Political Parties and the European Union offers a panoramic survey of the political parties of contemporary Europe. It covers party politics from Scandinavia to Greece, focusing on how parties in the individual member states have responded to the processes of European integration.
Despite a trend towards political convergence, national traditions continue to shape politics across Europe. In order to reflect, and do justice to, the diversity of political cultures, the book combines case studies, comparative approaches and supranational perspectives. It examines the history of the main national parties, offers new comparative perspectives on communist, green and extreme right parties, and analyses party politics at the European level.

chapter 1|30 pages

Introduction

Political parties and the European Union
ByJohn Gaffney

part |2 pages

Part I Case studies

chapter 2|20 pages

The German Social Democrats

ByRichard Moeller

chapter 3|18 pages

The German Christian Democrats

ByWilliam Paterson

chapter 4|15 pages

The French Socialists

ByAlistair Cole

chapter 5|24 pages

The French Gaullists

ByJames Shields

chapter 6|12 pages

The British Labour Party

ByStephen George, Deborah Haythorne

chapter 7|17 pages

The British Conservative Party

ByPeter Morris

chapter 8|16 pages

The Italian Christian Democrats

ByMartin Bull

chapter 9|15 pages

The Spanish Socialists

ByRichard Gillespie

chapter 10|19 pages

The Greek Socialists

BySusannah Verney

part |2 pages

Part II Comparative perspectives

chapter 11|14 pages

Irish political parties and the European Union

ByMichael Holmes

chapter 12|15 pages

Scandinavian political parties and the European Union

ByLars Svåsand, Ulf Lindström

chapter 13|15 pages

Western communist parties and the European Union

ByDavid Bell

chapter 14|19 pages

Extreme right-wing parties and the European Union:

France, Germany and Italy
ByCatherine Fieschi, James Shields, Roger Woods

chapter 15|19 pages

Green parties and the European Union

ByWolfgang Rüdig

part |2 pages

Part III The European Union

chapter 16|16 pages

How European are European elections?

ByJulie Smith

chapter 17|17 pages

Political parties in the European Parliament

ByRobert Ladrech

chapter 18|25 pages

The transnational party federations

BySimon Hix