Does Europe matter in European elections? A composite model of the 2009 European Parliament elections

This chapter assesses the validity of different interpretative models of voting behavior in European elections in the light of the June 2009 results. We focus, on the one hand, on models linking the European vote to national political concerns (second order model) and the domestic electoral cycle (electoral cycle model); on the other hand, we assess the ability of a model based on the role of party positions and campaigning (Europe matters model) to explain those occurrences at odds with traditional interpretations. A composite model is advanced, with the aim of providing an account for the 2009 European election results.