The transformation of political elites in the European Union after 2008. What is next after the constraining dissensus?

ABSTRACT

The European Union has witnessed a transformation of national political elites in the last decade. In addition to local factors, this is caused by a range of broader societal and political discontinuities. By applying Higley’s model of political elite transformation to the Eurozone- and migration crises, we reveal the nature of this transformation: political elites today are more differentiated and less united than a decade ago. The analysis shows that the discontinuities brought forth newly founded political parties and strengthened those with previously little voice in decision-making. These new elites reflect the Euroscepticism of an increasing proportion of their constituency. Thus, we argue that the European political landscape has moved beyond the constraining dissensus to a post-constraining dissensus, where national elites themselves challenge European integration. As elite transformation continues, the process of European integration will have to grapple with the realities of increased elite diversity for the foreseeable future.

KEYWORDS:

• Political elite transformation
• Eurozone and migration crises
• post-constraining
• dissensus
• gal-tan cleavage

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank three anonymous reviews for their helpful comments. They also wish to express great gratitude to Claus Offe and Helmut K. Anheier for their valuable remarks on the drafts of as well as to thank Josephine Graef and Alexander Filip for their insights that helped us develop our argument.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The differentiation of Member States follows established lines in the literature reinforced during the Eurocrisis (e.g. Börzel and Risse 2018): Northern Member States: from Austria to Sweden, South: from Portugal to Greece, and Eastern Europe: Visegrad countries. Choosing these three regions is sufficient to make apparent the broad trends under investigation, as each has been particularly affected by the appearing crises.

2. The notable exception is Ireland itself recipient of a bailout, witnessed significant losses for the established parties, in response to the economic crisis. Incumbent Fianna Fail lost 24.1% in the 2011 election, and the 2015 election cost the Labour Party 12.9% and Fine Gael 10.6%.

Additional information

Funding

The research for this project was funded by Stiftung Mercator through the Dahrendorf Forum, a joint initiative of the London School of Economics and the Hertie School. The views contained herein are those of the authors alone.