"Opposing the centre: Euro-scepticism and territorial cleavages in European party systems"

Sitter, Nick. (2001) "Opposing the centre: Euro-scepticism and territorial cleavages in European party systems". In: UNSPECIFIED, Madison, Wisconsin. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The central argument in the present paper is that Europeanisation of party politics-the translation of issues related to European integration into domestic party politics-is driven by the dynamics of long- and short-term government-opposition competition. This has generated three broad patterns of Euro-scepticism. First, several catch-all parties, which complete along the main socio-economic left-right dimension, have flirted with Euroscepticism or feature Euro-sceptic factions. Second, parties that have eschewed the catch-all approach if favour of political appeal centred on values, interests or identity make up a second dimension of competition and a second type of potential Euro-scepticism. Finally, parties on the right or left flanks of the party systems, first communist and neo-fascist and later socialist left, green and new populist parties, add a third dimension of opposition and there fore a third type of Euro-scepticism. Whilst the first and third types of Euro-scepticism have attracted some attention, the second dimension remains under-researched.

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