The Alleged Opposition Deficit in European Union Politics: Myth or Reality?
本文检验了欧盟政治中是否存在反对派赤字，利用瑞典欧洲事务委员会1995-2016年的独特数据，发现实际反对远多于假设，反对派赤字更像是神话而非现实。
Abstract According to the ‘opposition deficit thesis’ European Union politics is characterized by a conspicuous absence of opposition to the policies promoted by the EU. However, once we start looking for systematic evidence supporting the claim of an opposition deficit in EU politics, we come up surprisingly empty handed. This article seeks to rectify the lacuna in previous research by examining how much and what type of opposition actually exist in EU politics. The study formulates four hypotheses on the state of political opposition in EU politics, and breaks new ground by testing their validity by use of unique data collected from the Swedish European Affairs Committee for the period 1995–2016. The results show there is in fact considerably more opposition present in EU politics than has previously been assumed. The opposition deficit thesis thus seems to be more myth than reality.