Hermann Schmitt
The Nature of European Issues: Conceptual Clarifications and Some Empirical Evidence

Pp. 137-146 in: Steffen Ganghof, Christoph Hönnige, Christian Stecker (Eds.): Parlamente, Agendasetzung und Vetospieler. 2008. Wiesabden: VS Verlag

This chapter elaborates on the "nature" of European issues by expanding the meaning elements of the term beyond constitutional issues to the realm of normal politics, and beyond position issues and the spatial logic of party competition and vote choice by including valence issues and party competence as relevant domains. Data from the European Election Study 2004 are used to ememplify the relevance of these conceptual claims.