Abstract The Lisbon Treaty (2009) introduced key institutional changes to increase the
relevance of elections to the European Parliament (EP). Among others, major political …

This article contributes to the debate about the introduction of the Spitzenkandidaten (lead
candidates) in the 2014 European Parliament (EP) election. Focusing on parties' efforts to …

The dominant perspective of European Parliament (EP) elections is that these are second-
order national elections where little is at stake. This Special Issue asks whether this …

The Spitzenkandidaten were meant to personalize European Parliament elections. This
paper asks whether and through which channels the lead candidates were actually able to …

The Spitzenkandidaten system was envisaged as a way of transforming the character of
elections to the European Parliament (EP). To gain a better understanding of how this …

We investigate the interplay between party communication and media coverage in putting
EU issues on the agenda during the 2014 European Parliamentary election campaigns in …

In the 2014 and 2019 European elections, not only were parliamentary seats at stake, but
more importantly, European citizens were given the opportunity to indirectly decide who …

The Lisbon Treaty introduced key institutional changes to increase the relevance of
elections to the European Parliament (EP). Among these was the 'Spitzenkandidaten …

Leader evaluations are a crucial aspect in representative democracy. We analyse the
patterns, antecedents and consequences of European Union leader evaluations against the …

Utilitarian theories propose that support for the EU is based on an instrumental calculus
about the costs and benefits of European integration. Drawing on these theories, we analyze …