What drives elite opinions on European integration? Examining the territorial dimension

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Version: Final published version
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
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serval:BIB_F657B12C5B7C
Type
A part of a book
Publication sub-type
Chapter: chapter ou part
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Title
What drives elite opinions on European integration? Examining the territorial dimension
Title of the book
National Populism and Borders: The Politicisation of Cross-border Mobilisations in Europe
Author(s)
Lauener Lukas, Bernhard Laurent
Publisher
Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN
9781802208047
Publication state
Published
Issued date
13/01/2023
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Editor
Mazzoleni Oscar, Biancalana Cecilia, Pilotti Andrea, Bernhard Laurent, Yerly Grégoire, Lauener Lukas
Series
New Horizons in European Politics series
Chapter
6
Pages
96-118
Language
english
Abstract
Scholarly work on Euroscepticism suggests that elite preferences originate from ideology. In this chapter, we additionally focus on the role played by the territorial dimension to explain elite scepticism towards two salient issues: the free movement of persons (FMP) and EU membership. More specifically, we study the explanatory power of the share of cross-border commuters at the municipal level, language region affiliation, and the combined effect of these two factors. The analysis of elite opinions draws on data from the Candidate Survey of the 2019 Swiss Election Study (Selects). We find that Italian-speaking candidates are more Eurosceptic than German-speaking candidates. In addition, the positive effect that the Italian-speaking language region exerts on scepticism towards the FMP is greater the larger the share of cross-border commuters in a candidate's municipality. Finally, candidates from nationalist-populist radical right parties prove to be the fiercest Eurosceptics regarding both the FMP and EU membership.
Create date
13/01/2023 18:16
Last modification date
18/08/2023 5:56
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