De Wilde, Prof. Pieter
Pieter de Wilde (1980, Utrecht) is Professor of European Politics and Society at the University of Groningen. Trained as a political scientist at the University of Amsterdam, he earned his PhD at the University of Oslo with a widely cited study on the politicisation of European integration: how Europe shifted from a technocratic project to a contested topic in public debate.
After completing his doctorate, De Wilde held international positions at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center and at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. In early 2024, after seventeen years abroad, he returned to the Netherlands as chair in European politics and society in Groningen.
His research focuses on the tensions between European integration and globalisation, the dynamics of political conflict in the public sphere, and the state of democracy. In 2025, his book essay Het Veiligheidsverhaal van Europa. Van vredestichter tot behoeder van de democratie was published by Acco.
De Wilde regularly publishes in leading international journals such as the Journal of European Public Policy, the European Journal of Political Research and the British Journal of Political Science, and frequently appears as a commentator on European politics.
Previously in the news (mainly in Dutch)
Contact details and more information
Publications
2025
de
Wilde, P. (2025). Centers, Boundaries,
Politicization and Cleavages: A Political Sociology of
Europe. (Inaugural Lectures). University of Groningen
Press. https://doi.org/10.21827/6745991e955b2
Özdemir,
S. F., Graneng, K., & de Wilde, P. (2025).
EU executives on social media: Assessing the potential and
trajectories of legitimation via public communication on
Twitter. European Union Politics.
Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/14651165251320881
de
Wilde, P. (2025). The embattled union: toward a theory
of siege mentality within European Union institutions.
European Politics and Society. Advance online
publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/23745118.2025.2565196
Vik,
A., de Wilde, P., Treib, O., & Aarøe, L.
(2025). Venturing Beyond the Vote: Routes to Feeling
Represented through Unelected Representation.
British Journal of Political Science. Advance
online publication. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123425000080
2024
Andrione‐Moylan,
A., de Wilde, P., & Raube, K. (2024).
(De‐)politicization Discourse Strategies: The Case of
Trade. JCMS-Journal of Common Market
Studies, 62(1), 21-37. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13475
Vik,
A., & de Wilde, P. (2024). Reconceptualizing
“feeling represented”: A new approach to measure how
feelings of political representation are constructed.
Acta Politica. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-024-00358-2
2023
de
Wilde, P., Langsæther, P. E., & Özdemir, S.
(2023). Critical junctures and the crystallization of
cosmopolitanism and communitarianism. European
Political Science Review, 15(2), 157-176. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773922000534
de
Wilde, P. (2023). More power, less influence: European
union actors in media debates on fiscal policy after the
eurocrisis. Journal of European
Integration, 45(2), 239-255. https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2022.2115485
de
Wilde, P. (2023). Peace, Prosperity and Protection:
Narratives of Integration and the ‘Justification
Jungle’ of Europe's Public Spheres.
JCMS-Journal of Common Market Studies,
61(5), 1194-1210. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13456
Andrione‐Moylan,
A., de Wilde, P., & Raube, K. (2023).
Varieties of EU trade politicisation in EU public
debates. Global Policy,
14(S3), 19-29. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13184
2022
de
Wilde, P., Rasch, A., & Bossetta, M. (2022).
Analyzing Citizen Engagement With European Politics on Social
Media. Politics and Governance,
10(1), 90-96. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v10i1.5233
Gora,
A., & de Wilde, P. (2022). The essence of
democratic backsliding in the European Union: deliberation and rule
of law. Journal of European Public
Policy, 29(3), 342-362. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2020.1855465
2020
Strijbis,
O., Helmer, J., & de Wilde, P. (2020). A
cosmopolitan–communitarian cleavage around the world?
Evidence from ideological polarization and party–voter
linkages. Acta Politica, 55,
408-431. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-018-0122-0
de
Wilde, P. (2020). The Quality of Representative
Claims: Uncovering a Weakness in the Defense of the Liberal World
Order. Political Studies,
68(2), 271-292. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321719845199
2019
de
Wilde, P., & Rauh, C. (2019). Going full circle:
the need for procedural perspectives on EU responsiveness.
Journal of European Public Policy,
26(11), 1737-1748. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2019.1668043
de
Wilde, P. (2019). Media logic and grand theories of
European integration. Journal of European Public
Policy, 26(8), 1193-1212. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2019.1622590
de
Wilde, P. (2019). The making of four ideologies of
globalization. European Political Science
Review, 11(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1755773918000164
de
Wilde, P., Koopmans, R., Merkel, W., Strijbis, O., &
Zürn, M. (Eds.) (2019). The Struggle over Borders:
Cosmopolitanism and Communitarianism. Cambridge
University Press.
2018
de
Wilde, P., & Raunio, T. (2018). Redirecting
national parliaments: Setting priorities for involvement in EU
affairs. Comparative European
Politics, 16, 310-329. https://doi.org/10.1057/cep.2015.28
Rauh,
C., & de Wilde, P. (2018). The opposition
deficit in EU accountability: Evidence from over 20 years of
plenary debate in four member states. European
Journal of Political Research, 57(1), 194-216.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12222
2017
Rauh,
C., de Wilde, P., & Schwalbach, J. (2017).
The ParlSpeech data set: Annotated full-text vectors of
3.9 million plenary speeches in the key legislative chambers of
seven European states. arXiv. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/c5gdm
2016
de
Wilde, P., Junk, W. M., & Palmtag, T. (2016).
Accountability and opposition to globalization in
international assemblies. European Journal of
International Relations, 22(4), 823-846. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066115604032
de
Wilde, P., & Lord, C. (2016). Assessing
actually-existing trajectories of EU politicisation.
West European Politics, 39(1),
145-163. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2015.1081508
Zürn,
M., & de Wilde, P. (2016). Debating
globalization: cosmopolitanism and communitarianism as political
ideologies. Journal of Political
Ideologies, 21(3), 280-301. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569317.2016.1207741
de
Wilde, P., Leupold, A., & Schmidtke, H. (2016).
Introduction: the differentiated politicisation of European
governance. West European Politics,
39(1), 3-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2015.1081505
2015
de
Wilde, P. (2015). The Imperative of a European Welfare
State. Int Stud Rev, 17(3),
498-500. https://doi.org/10.1111/misr.12248
2014
de
Wilde, P., Michailidou, A., & Trenz, H.-J. (2014).
Converging on euroscepticism: Online polity contestation
during European Parliament elections. European
Journal of Political Research, 53(4), 766-783.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12050
Michailidou,
A., Trenz, H.-J., & de Wilde, P. (2014).
The Internet and European Integration: Pro- and Anti-EU
Debates in Online News Media. Barbara Budrich
Publishers. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvdf0dxq
de
Wilde, P. (2014). The Operating Logics of National
Parliaments and Mass Media in the Politicisation of Europe.
Journal of Legislative Studies,
20(1), 46-61. https://doi.org/10.1080/13572334.2013.871484
2013
de
Wilde, P., Michailidou, A., & Trenz, H.-J. (2013).
Contesting Europe: Exploring Euroscepticism in Online
Media. ECPR Press.
de
Wilde, P. (2013). Representative claims analysis:
Theory meets method. Journal of European Public
Policy, 20(2), 278-294. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2013.746128
Teney,
C., Lacewell, O. P., & de Wilde, P. (2013).
Winners and losers of globalization in Europe: Attitudes and
ideologies. European Political Science
Review, 6(4), 575-595. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773913000246
2012
de
Wilde, P., & Zürn, M. (2012). Can the
Politicization of European Integration be Reversed?
Journal of Common Market Studies,
50(s1), 137-153. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5965.2011.02232.x
de
Wilde, P., & Trenz, H.-J. (2012). Denouncing
European integration: Euroscepticism as polity contestation.
European Journal of Social Theory,
15(4), 537-554. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431011432968
de
Wilde, P. (2012). Politicisation of the EU Budget:
Conflict and the Constraining Dissensus. West
European Politics, 35(5), 1075-1094. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2012.706411
de
Wilde, P. (2012). Why the Early Warning Mechanism
Does Not Alleviate the Democratic Deficit. Observatory
of Parliaments after the Lisbon Treaty. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2128463
2011
de
Wilde, P. (2011). Ex ante vs. ex post: The trade-off
between partisan conflict and visibility in debating EU
policy-formulation in national parliaments.
Journal of European Public Policy,
18(5), 672-689. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2011.586797
de
Wilde, P. (2011). No effect, weapon of the weak or
reinforcing executive dominance? How media coverage affects
national parliaments' involvement in EU policy-formulation.
Comparative European Politics, 9,
123-144. https://doi.org/10.1057/cep.2009.13
de
Wilde, P. (2011). No polity for old politics? a
framework for analyzing the politicization of European
integration. Journal of European
Integration, 33(5), 559-575. https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2010.546849
de
Wilde, P. (2011). The Plural Representative Space: How
Mass Media and National Parliaments Stimulate Pluralism through
Competition. In S. Kröger, & D. Friedrich (Eds.),
The Challenge of Democratic Representation in the European
Union (pp. 117-134). Palgrave MacMillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230355828_7
2007
de
Wilde, P. (2007). Politicisation of European
Integration: Bringing the Process into Focus. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2004986
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