Editing Party system (section)

==== European Union ====
The [[European Parliament]] has compared to other parliaments a higher number of political parties with 206, to reduce [[political fragmentation]] the parties are organized into 7 [[political groups]]. Two structures of party system have been identified in the [[European Parliament]] since its first [[universal suffrage|universal]] direct election in 1979, albeit the main EU party groups remained the same:<ref>Simon Hix, "A supranational party system and the legitimacy of the European Union", ''The International Spectator'', 4/2002, pp. 50–59</ref>
* 1979–1994: a system split in two blocs on the left/right dimension, with the left bloc ([[Party of European Socialists|Socialists]], [[Communist and Allies Group|Communists]] and [[European Green Party|Greens]]) opposing a right bloc ([[European People's Party (European Parliament group)|Christian democrats]], [[Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe|Liberals]] and [[European Democratic Union|Gaullists]])
* 1994-onwards: a system in which the three central parties (the conservative [[European People's Party|EPP]], the socialist [[Party of European Socialists|PES]] and the liberal [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group|ALDE]]) have voted as much with each other as with their smaller allies, thus 'governing' the system, and facing different oppositions from the left ([[Party of the European Left|European Left]] and [[European Green Party|Greens]] and leftist [[euroskeptic|eurosceptic]]s) and from the right ([[European Democratic Union|Gaullists]], rightist [[euroskeptic|eurosceptic]]s and [[Alliance of Independent Democrats in Europe|nationalists]]).