The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)

"This book explores the role of the European Left Party (EL) within European politics and more specifically its role within the politics of the European radical left. It offers the first analytical study of the EL to date, making a unique contribution to our understanding of European politics, Euroscepticism and radical left parties. The book compares the EL to other transnational party federations (TNPs), particularly those of the broad centre-left, the Party of European Socialists (PES) and the European Green Party (EGP). It focusses on the degree to which the EL has fostered a consensus over the EU previously conspicuously lacking among the radical left and the degree to which the EL has enabled an increase in the electoral or policy influence of the radical left in Europe. It highlights how the EL is a paradoxical actor; on one hand it has brought radical left transnational co-operation to historical highs; on the other it is both less influential than the PES and less transnational and consolidated than the EGP. Such paradoxes result from persistent internal divisions, as well as sub-optimal internal structures. The influence of the EL is also paradoxical. It has emerged as a centre of attraction for the European radical left, but is a long way from being hegemonic or unchallenged on the left. Written by two of the foremost experts on the European left, it will be of interest to students and scholars interested in European politics, to political activists, and to the general reader interested in how the left has fared in post-crisis Europe." -- Back cover.