Bullettin n. 1/2011
June 2011
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
    • Wagner Markus
    The Right in the European Parliament Since 1979
    in Perspectives on European Politics and Society , vol. 12, n. 1, April ,  2011 ,  52-67
    This article examines the development of the representation of the Right in the European Parliament (EP) since 1979. The Right in Europe has always been more complexly structured than the Left. In particular, the Right remains divided on both culture and economic policy. Developments in the past decades have not significantly weakened this complexity. While urban-rural and church-state cleavages may have weakened, economic and centre-periphery divisions remain strong. Moreover, the Right has become more diverse with the rise of extreme parties and democratisation in Southern and Central/Eastern Europe. To what extent has this diversity been mirrored in the EP? Paradoxically, one strong trend has been the rising dominance of the European People's Party. This is because size itself has become an attraction due to (1) the growing institutional power of the EP and (2) internal rules. Declining divisions within the mainstream Right have also played a role. At the same time, the Right has remained diverse within the EP, with a plethora of smaller groups based around Liberals, Conservatives, Eurosceptics and the Extreme Right. These divisions have persisted due to the complexity of the European Right and the simultaneous fluidity of these divisions.
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