The Making of a European Public Sphere

This book investigates an important source of the European Union's recent legitimacy problems. It shows how European integration is debated in mass media, and how this affects democratic inclusiveness. Advancing integration implies a shift in power between governments, parliaments, and civil society. Behind debates over Europe's 'democratic deficit' is a deeper concern: whether democratic politics can perform effectively under conditions of Europeanization and globalization. This study is based on a wealth of unique data from seven European countries, combining newspaper content analyses, an innovative study of Internet communication structures, and hundreds of interviews with leading political and media representatives across Europe. It is by far the most far-reaching and empirically grounded study on the Europeanization of media discourse and political contention to date, and a must-read for anyone interested in how European integration changes democratic politics and why European integration has become increasingly contested.

Introduction: Europe's search for a public sphere Paul Statham Part I. A European Public Sphere: Questions and Approach: 1. The European Union and the public sphere: conceptual issues, political tensions, moral concerns, empirical questions Jos de Beus 2. Theoretical framework, research design and methods Ruud Koopmans and Paul Statham Part II. European Public Debates: Visibility and Inclusiveness: 3. The Europeanization of public spheres: comparisons across issues, time and countries Ruud Koopmans, Jessica Erbe and Martin F. Meyer 4. Winners and losers, supporters and opponents in Europeanized public debates Ruud Koopmans Part III. Mass Media: Performance, Claim Making and Framing: 5. Making Europe news: journalism and media performance Paul Statham 6. The media's voice over Europe: issue salience and conflict lines in editorials Barbara Pfetsch, Silke Adam and Barbara Eschner 7. Transnational political communication on the Internet: search engine results and hyperlink networks Ruud Koopmans and Ann Zimmermann 8. Framing the European Union in national public spheres Juan Diez Medrano and Emily Gray Part IV. Political Actors: Collective Action and Party Competition: 9. Going public in the EU: action repertoires of collective political actors Hanspeter Kriesi, Anke Tresch and Margit Jochum 10. Political party contestation: emerging Euroscepticism or a normalization of Eurocriticism? Paul Statham, Ruud Koopmans, Anke Tresch and Julie Firmstone Conclusion: 11. What kind of Europeanized public politics? Paul Statham.