Understanding the Eurosceptic voters

European researchers are endeavouring to better understand the successes of Eurosceptic political parties in central and east Europe. Areas covered include contemporary European politics, perceptions of European integration and reasons for growing disenchantment with the Euro vision.

There are systematic but unexplained attitudinal differences between mass publics in central and east Europe (CEE) and eastern European countries. The 'Determinants of Eurosceptical voting behavior in CEE countries and party responses' (DEVBCEEC) project’s approach is that the success of the Eurosceptic label in CEE party politics may not be down to anti-EU sentiments alone. This line of thinking posits that it is instead a response to mainstream party convergence and the perception of widespread corruption among domestic elites.

The EU-funded project is carrying out a quantitative cross-national study to operationalise and empirically test these propositions with country- and individual-level data from the region. The information generated will provide an opportunity to observe sufficient variation in type and strength of protest parties.

Three countries were selected for the administration of a field survey: Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Project members wrote detailed case studies for each country, providing basic information: general economic development, population demographics, institutional characteristics and development of the national party system. This enabled the identification of factors that potentially influence the behaviour of political parties. Development of a detailed timeline from the first free elections to the present day helped project researchers take into account possible effects of specific events on the behaviour of political parties.

Case study findings for each country make up the project's contribution to a Routledge Publishing Consortium book project with the working title 'Prospects on East Central Europe in the 21st Century'. Several conference papers and journal articles as well as a working paper have also been produced. A follow-up and add-on grant has been developed and submitted to an Austrian funding agency with a view to expanding the scope of the survey.

DEVBCEEC work will continue with data collection and analysis, with project outcomes holding the promise of contributing to a better understanding of the success of Eurosceptic parties in an expanding EU.

Πηγή: http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/rcn/12007_en.html