A new hope for Europhiles? The 2017 German federal elections and the revenge of the pro-European mainstream
A new hope for Europhiles? The 2017 German federal elections and the revenge of the pro-European mainstream
The rise of the right-wing populist and eurosceptic party, Alternative für Deutschland, in Germany represents a significant shake up of the country’s pro-EU consensus. Spatial models of partisan behaviour predict that mainstream parties are likely to react to eurosceptic challenges by veering towards a more critical european position. A comparison of the politicisation of European integration in party programmes between the 2017 federal elections and those held previously shows that the reverse is true. In the face of a rising eurosceptic challenger, mainstream parties became more pro-European and more explicitly vocal in their support for the EU as the AfD expanded its support in advance of the 2017 election. In short, instead of accommodating to euroscepticism, mainstream parties have opted for an adversarial response. I argue that the europhile fight-back of mainstream parties is likely driven by increases in europhilia amongst mainstream parties’ supporters in the face of the AfD.
euroscepticism, political parties, european integration, Germany, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD)
815-840
Turnbull-Dugarte, Stuart J.
e25c6280-842c-407f-a961-6472eea5d845
2021
Turnbull-Dugarte, Stuart J.
e25c6280-842c-407f-a961-6472eea5d845
Turnbull-Dugarte, Stuart J.
(2021)
A new hope for Europhiles? The 2017 German federal elections and the revenge of the pro-European mainstream.
Journal of European Integration, 43 (7), .
(doi:10.1080/07036337.2020.1826943).
Abstract
The rise of the right-wing populist and eurosceptic party, Alternative für Deutschland, in Germany represents a significant shake up of the country’s pro-EU consensus. Spatial models of partisan behaviour predict that mainstream parties are likely to react to eurosceptic challenges by veering towards a more critical european position. A comparison of the politicisation of European integration in party programmes between the 2017 federal elections and those held previously shows that the reverse is true. In the face of a rising eurosceptic challenger, mainstream parties became more pro-European and more explicitly vocal in their support for the EU as the AfD expanded its support in advance of the 2017 election. In short, instead of accommodating to euroscepticism, mainstream parties have opted for an adversarial response. I argue that the europhile fight-back of mainstream parties is likely driven by increases in europhilia amongst mainstream parties’ supporters in the face of the AfD.
Text
Turnbull-Dugarte_EurophileHope
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 5 August 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 7 October 2020
Published date: 2021
Keywords:
euroscepticism, political parties, european integration, Germany, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD)
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 443192
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/443192
ISSN: 0703-6337
PURE UUID: c09c9552-8ce3-4a6c-ba30-e080629e174e
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Date deposited: 13 Aug 2020 16:38
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 05:48
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