Laurie Beaudonnet

A Threatening Horizon: The Impact of the Welfare State on Support for Europe

From the cradle to the grave, social protection is the major bond between citizen and national authority. European integration challenges the social boundaries of nation-states and this phenomenon is not without consequences for individual attitudes. Within public debate, there are many discussions about the impact of European integration on the welfare state, but conclusive analysis of the consequences on individual support for Europe is still lacking. This article provides an empirical test of the relationship between support for Europe and attitudes towards the welfare state. The findings show that both welfare regimes and welfare issues have a strong impact on individual support for Europe. When it comes to social protection, the European Union works like a distant, albeit strong, threat for individuals.

Protecting Us, Protecting Europe? Public Concern about Immigration and Declining Support for European Integration in Italy

Abstract This article investigates the effect of immigration on attitudes towards Europe in Italy. This question resonates throughout the European Union (EU), but does so particularly in Italy – one of EUs most exposed external borders, especially under recent global challenges such as the economic crisis and the Arab Spring. Over the last two decades, Italy received more than four million migrants and refugees, which has put immigration on top of the political agenda ever since. Using data from the European Values Study (EVS), we find that concerns about immigration, especially in the context of the economic crisis of 2007, is a factor of declining support for European integration and that these effects vary across regions. In particular, we demonstrate the mediating effect of context by showing that the effect of being concerned about immigration is more corrosive for support in regions with higher immigration rates than in regions with lower rates.

Green Parties in Hard Times: The Case of EELV in the 2012 French Presidential Election

Europe-Écologie-Les Verts (EELV) has been part of the French party system for 30 years, securing parliamentary representation and being part of coalition government twice, from 1997 to 2002 and since May 2012, following the latest presidential and legislative elections. The recent electoral successes of the party at the 2008 local, 2009 European and 2010 regional elections have turned scholarly attention to the party’s strategy and electoral dynamic. However, this revived interest has not triggered research on the socio-economic and ideological profile of the French Green voter. Using the 2012 CEVIPOF French Election Study, this article investigates the demographic and attitudinal composition of the French Green voter in the 2012 presidential election. Findings show that the EELV voter’s profile, characterized by left-libertarianism, support for the European Union and environmental awareness, distinguishes them from right-wing voters as well as from ideologically proximate electorates of Front de Gauche and Parti Socialiste.

Red Europe versus no Europe? The impact of attitudes towards the EU and the economic crisis on radical-left voting

Abstract The 2014 European Parliament election saw a relatively large increase in the size of radical-left parties (RLPs), particularly in Western Europe. This article aims to provide new ways of thinking about the dynamics of radical-left voting by analysing the changing role of attitudes towards the European Union in explaining support for RLPs at European Parliament elections during the Great Recession. It is argued that the Europeanisation of economic issues during the financial crisis, together with the particular kind of Euroscepticism advocated by these parties, have enabled them to successfully attract a heterogeneous pool of voters. Using the 2009 and 2014 European Election Studies, it is shown that the effect of negative opinions about the EU on support for RLPs increased significantly during the crisis. In addition, support for RLPs also increased among voters with positive views of the EU who were nevertheless highly dissatisfied with the economic situation.