This book investigates the way politicians and citizens evaluated the European Union and the process of European integration in public debates during the 2009 European Parliament elections. It presents detailed and rigorous content analysis of online media where citizens directly and voluntarily responded to news stories posted by journalists. New evidence is presented about the dynamic nature of contestation about Europe on the internet and the degree of convergence towards Euroscepticism across EU member states. Such convergence poses new challenges for democratic representation in the EU and provides insight into the public basis for a legitimate European Union. ‘In this book European contestation has come of age. Pieter de Wilde, Asimina Michailidou and Hans-Jorg Trenz deliver a tour de force in mapping the multifaceted debate about Europe among parties and citizens in twelve countries. Informed by rich media data they convincingly argue that opposition as well as support for Europe comes in different shades: it can be partial, conditional, or temporal. This is a wonderfully nuanced book for scholars, students and policy makers concerned about Europe’s future.’ Liesbet Hooghe, W. R. Kenan, Jr.Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina and Chair in Multilevel Governance, VU University of Amsterdam
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