Causes and consequences of different types of EU positions among voters

Autor principal:
Roberto Pannico (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Autores:
Enrique Hernández Pérez (Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona)
Programa:
Sesión 3, Sesión 3
Día: lunes, 22 de julio de 2024
Hora: 16:00 a 17:45
Lugar: JUECES DE CASTILLA (76)

The analysis of the relationship between EU attitudes and ideology produced partially different trajectories for the literature on political parties and that on public opinion. In both cases, an inverted U-shaped relationship has been identified, with parties and voters at the ideological extremes expressing greater opposition to the EU than centrist actors. However, within the literature on political parties, the analysis has developed beyond this pattern, quickly identifying different dimensions of support for the EU and studying how party ideology influences not only their relevance, but also how they combine to form party positions. Like political parties, voters also seem to distinguish between the various aspects of European integration. However, we still do not understand how these evaluations of different aspects of the EU combine to form voters' multifaceted positions on the EU and whether this process is linked to citizens’ ideological beliefs.

Are voters' attitudes structured in the same way as those of political parties? Does this structure depend on ideology? How stable is it? Using data from a panel survey in Spain, the paper investigates how voters' opinions on different aspects of European integration combine to form a typology of Eurosceptic/Europhile profiles. The paper analyses: (i) the ideological distribution of the different profiles; (ii) their (economic and cultural) predictors; (iii) their electoral consequences (iv) their stability over time. The results will provide a finer-grained picture of citizens' preferences and shed light on the dynamics of the link between parties and voters on EU issues.

Palabras clave: Attitudes toward the EU, Ideology, Vote, Panel Data