The Influence of Euroscepticism among Populist Party Voters

• In Event: Explaining Voters' Support for Populism

Abstract

Euroscepticism and populism have a lot in common both in theory and in practice. Previous scholarship reveals that citizens’ EU attitude is associated with their voting behavior for populist parties. However, little is relatively known about how and the extent to which Euroscepticism works among populist party voters, especially at the supranational level i.e., European Parliament (EP) election. Thus, this paper explores the effect of mass-level Euroscepticism on populist party voting in various aspects: 1) How and to what extent is citizen-level Euroscepticism both directly and indirectly linked to voting for populist parties? 2) Does this effect vary depending on types of populist parties? To begin with, I argue that both Euroscepticism and populism are fundamentally and commonly conceptualized as an anti-system opposition ideology against today’s liberal democracy. Based on this conceptual work, firstly, I expect that Euroscepticism is a mediator of positive effect of populist attitudes on populist party voting as well as has a direct effect on populist party voting. Secondly, I expect that each effect varies depending on types of populist parties: (1) the left-right traditional political spectrum and (2) the degree of integration into mainstream party systems. I draw on data from the European Election Studies Voter Study in 2014’s and 2019’s EP elections. The results generally support my expectations that Euroscepticism are both directly and indirectly tied to citizens’ voting behavior for populist parties and that its effect is stronger (1) for far-right populist parties and (2) for less integrated populist parties with mainstream party systems. My findings further suggest that Euroscepticism and populism have a reinforcing effect on populist party voting as the level of antipathy to the EU-level liberal democratic orders and policy-making processes has increased.

Author

• Hyoungrohk Chu, Binghamton University, SUNY