Hence there is a puzzle for political parties: 1. How to reconcile intra-national perceptions and trans-national pressures? 2. How to play the two level game by finding a consensus within the own polity? 3 ideas are discussed: 1. Changing party types: it is overlooked that New Parties are different in terms of role perception – recruitment – representation. In fact they are people’s movements that use extant institutions to challenge the established political elites. 2. New Parties produce new forms of re-alignment as they are close to societal emotions. 3. Established parties look incapable to solve societal problems, whereas new parties or movements are presenting solutions by exiting the EU.
Instead of an indirect type of Madisonian democracy there is a turn to Jefferson where the traditional political elites are being replaced. This would mean a transformation of party politics in Europe: from concertation among the party elites to confrontation by ‘people movements’ with national governments and the EU.
