This thesis traces the influence of various party groups' ideas in the European Parliament's approach to obtaining direct elections during the period 1965-1979. Central to the analysis are MEPs'...Show moreThis thesis traces the influence of various party groups' ideas in the European Parliament's approach to obtaining direct elections during the period 1965-1979. Central to the analysis are MEPs' viewpoints on whether an increase of the Parliament's powers was desirable before direct elections (maximalist) or direct elections should precede an expansion of its powers (minimalist). Using records of the EP's various committees and the plenary, it argues that the alignment of a majority within the socialist and Christian-democrat groups, strengthened by matching ideas among liberal MEPs, on the desire to correct the Community's (perceived to be) undemocratic institutional balance by improving the Parliament's powers, created a maximalist majority that, until 1975, steered the EP's approach to direct elections towards prioritizing the expansion of power over an increase in democratic legitimacy. Subsequently, these groups' ideas about the expected balance between powers and representativity shifted the Parliament to a more minimalist approach of focusing on obtaining direct elections following the improvement of the Parliament's powers in 1975 through the budgetary treaties.Show less
The advent of new technologies is continually changing the dynamics of political communication, making social media (especially Twitter) a direct linkage between politicians and the public,...Show moreThe advent of new technologies is continually changing the dynamics of political communication, making social media (especially Twitter) a direct linkage between politicians and the public, different from, for instance, TV interviews. Thus, it is generally believed that parties can take advantage of these new channels to spread their messages, and populist Eurosceptic parties are particularly expected to utilize them as a way to expand their support and visibility within the political field. Given this, further considerations could be raised on how these parties use social media. While some may argue that social media acts only as a complementary platform to maximize the reach of proposals, many scholars have pointed out that these parties use social media to make their discourse even more colloquial, mobilizing and radical. The research question to be addressed is: what is the discursive strategy of populist Eurosceptic parties on Twitter compared to the one on TV interviews?Show less