di Luca Carrieri Nelle ultime elezioni europee l’alleanza Progressista dei Socialisti e dei Democratici (S&D) ha conseguito un esiguo incremento di seggi (+7 rispetto al 2009) ed è rimasto stabile al 25% dei suffragi all’interno dell’eurozona. Le distanze rispetto ai rivali storici del PPE si sono notevolmente accorciate. Infatti, se nel 2009 i popolari potevano contare su 265 eletti contro i 184 dei socialisti (una differenza di circa 80 seggi), nel 2014 i rapporti di forza si sono riequilibrati e la forbice tra i due principali euro-partiti è scesa a 23 seggi, sempre in favore dei popolari. La percentuale in...

Introduction Concurrent to regional-level elections in the state of Bremen and local election in nine out of sixteen states, Germany elected their share of representatives for the ninth legislative term of the European Parliament (EP) on May 26th. With 96 seats, Germany contributes the largest number of politicians to the EP. These parliamentarians are elected based on a proportional electoral system and in a single constituency. Plus, for the second time, there is no legal threshold for parties to win seats which means that due to the large number of seats available already around 0.6 per cent of the votes...

Alla vigilia del voto del 26 maggio, risulta interessante chiarire quali saranno i dati da osservare con particolare attenzione durante la notte elettorale per comprendere le dinamiche del voto sia in Italia che in Europa. La letteratura sulle elezioni europee ci dice come queste ultime possano essere considerate quali elezioni di “secondo ordine” (Reif e Schmitt 1980). Queste sono tutte quelle consultazioni in cui in gioco non c’è il governo del paese. In questo tipo di elezioni, la posta in gioco è inferiore, e, di conseguenza, i cittadini sono più liberi di esprimere sinceramente il proprio voto, senza considerazioni di...

Konstantinos Athanasiadis The elections of the 25th May in Greece were realised amidst pronounced polarisation, deep fragmentation and collapse of partisan identities. Interestingly, the elections coincided with the 40th anniversary of the collapse of the military junta that ruled Greece for seven years (1967-1974) and the subsequent consolidation of democracy as inculcated in the era of Metapolitefsi (change of regime/ new ethos in the conduct of politics). Konstantinos Athanasiadis is PhD Candidate at LUISS Guido Carli University. Mr Athanasiadis earned an MSc in International Politics from SOAS, University of London and a BA in International and European Studies from the University...

Patrick Dumont and Raphaël Kies The context For the first time since 1979, European elections were held separately from national elections in Luxembourg. The simultaneity of elections decided on before the first direct European elections (as Luxembourgish MPs were already elected for a five-year mandate and that the next scheduled election was to be held in 1979 anyway) and government stability made all seven previous national and European elections fall on the same day, with a number of consequences ensuing. For instance, as European elections are fought on a unique, nationwide constituency until 2009 all party heavyweights used to be...