Are populist MEPs the 'voice of the people'? An analysis of MEP-citizen opinion congruence in the European Parliament (1999-2015)
P2-03
Presented by: Sofia Vasilopoulou
Eurosceptic and populist political entrepreneurs claim that they are the ‘voice of the people’ against corrupt elites. Over time they have increased their representation in the European Parliament (EP). Some tend to have much higher representation at the supranational compared to the national level. Against this, we ask: are their views actually congruent with their voters in EP elections? We study how opinion corresponds between MEPs and those they represent, at four fixed points in time between 1999 and 2015 on two major political dimensions, namely the left-right and pro-anti EU integration dimensions. We use data from MEP surveys carried out by the European Parliament Research Group (Hix et al. 2016, Whitaker et al. 2017) and European Election Study voter surveys (van Egmond et al. 2013; Schmitt et al. 2009, 2015). Our longitudinal and comparative design allows us to consider potential changes in the quality of democratic representation in the EP over time, taking into account the expansion of the EP’s legislative authority, European Union enlargement and the rise of Euroscepticism. Our findings indicate a mixed picture and have implications for our understanding of representation in the European Union.