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Politicizing Europe in the National Electoral Arena: A Comparative Analysis of Five West E uropean Countries, 1970–2010
Author(s) -
Hutter Swen,
Grande Edgar
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
jcms: journal of common market studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.54
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1468-5965
pISSN - 0021-9886
DOI - 10.1111/jcms.12133
Subject(s) - mainstream , framing (construction) , political science , opposition (politics) , political economy , politics , political opportunity , comparative politics , sociology , social movement , law , geography , archaeology
Although politicization has become a key concept in E uropean integration studies, it is still contested whether, when and to what extent E uropean issues have become politicized in domestic political arenas. This article contributes to this discussion both in conceptual and empirical terms. It uses a new multidimensional index of politicization to systematically trace the development of politicization in national election campaigns in five West E uropean countries ( A ustria, Britain, F rance, G ermany and S witzerland) from the 1970s to 2010. The findings provide clear evidence that Europe has indeed been politicized in the past decades. Moreover, two different paths towards such a politicization are identified. One of these paths is dominated by populist radical parties from the right, while the other path is shaped by the conflict between mainstream parties in government and opposition. On both paths, conflicts over membership play an important role and cultural‐identitarian framing strategies are used.