University of Georgia
From the SelectedWorks of Cas Mudde
2002
The wT o Sides of Euroscepticism. Party Positions on European Integration in East Central Europe Petr Kopecky, Leiden University Cas Mudde, DePauw University
Available at: https://works.bepress.com/cas_mudde/7/ European Union Politics The Two Sides of [1465-1165(200209)3:3] Volume 3 (3): 297–326: 026076 Euroscepticism Copyright© 2002 SAGE Publications Party Positions on European Integration London, Thousand Oaks CA, in East Central Europe New Delhi
Petr Kopecky´ Universiteit Leiden, The Netherlands
Cas Mudde Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium
ABSTRACT
This article aims to make a three-fold contribution to the study of Euroscepticism in the wider Europe. First, it presents a two-dimensional conceptualization of party positions on European integration in general, and of Euroscepticism in particular, distinguishing between diffuse and specific support for European integration (i.e. ‘support for the ideas of European integration’ and ‘support for the EU’). Second, it analyses the location, type, and electoral strength of party-based Euroscepticism in the four candidate countries of East Central Europe – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Third, it contributes to the ideology vs. strategy debate, showing that ideology is the dominant explanation for both types of support, although strategy at times plays a role in explaining specific support.
KEY WORDS