Do Populists Close Borders? An Analysis from the Schengen Area

• In Event: Illiberalism, Populism, and the 'Crisis' of Migration for Europe

Abstract

The ability to freely cross borders inside the EU's Schengen area, has increasingly been challenged over the past decade by the introduction of temporary border controls by member states, for various lengths of time. The use of temporary borders has been explained in the literature in relation to the emergence of "polycrises", from COVID19, to terrorism, to massive arrivals of undocumented migrants (refugees or others), or motivated by geographical contexts. This study adds to the existing literature (i.e. Gulzau 2023) by seeking to explain variation in the adoption of temporary border controls, in the context of internal, county-specific developments (like the election of populist leaders). Also, a Cox regression model helps further examine the factors that impact border closure survival times.

Author

• Anca Turcu, University of Central Florida