Pontus Odmalm

ONE SIZE FITS ALL? EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP, NATIONAL CITIZENSHIP POLICIES AND INTEGRATION REQUIREMENTS

This article considers what is meant by the idea of ‘European citizenship’ and addresses the issue of converging citizenship policies. By comparing a number of data sets, the degree to which convergence is taking place is assessed. The article suggests that EU member states are, to a certain extent, harmonising. However, this is effected not so much through formal citizenship regulation (such as the rules on dual nationality), but rather through the increased use of ‘integration requirements’ and culturally specific criteria for naturalisation.

Getting the Balance Right? Party Competition on Immigration and Conflicting Ideological ‘Pulls’

Will a plurality of cleavages ‘pull’ parties in different directions? Are these strains particularly troublesome when competing on issues that lack an obvious dimensional fit? Are some parties more likely than others to experience these tensions? And does it matter? While the essence of the party-political space has received substantial coverage, less attention is paid to the effects that multidimensionality may have on issue competition. Comparing British and Swedish parties, this article analyses how any contradictory positions have been negotiated, and when such tensions are likely to emerge.

The Death of Ideology, or Ways of Dealing with an Increased State of Flux

The rationale for this book was to explore the changing nature of party competition in an era of increased ideological uncertainty and disconnect between parties and electorates. A key concern was to assess the relevance of parties’ ideological placements — especially in multidimensional spaces — and whether opposing stances would generate any conflicting ‘pulls’ once the EU and immigration were factored in. By conducting a manifesto analysis, and by being sensitive to the institutional context that parties function in, some predictions were made regarding the type of party that should be more and less likely to experience such strains. A set of seven hypotheses were then explored by bringing in qualitative (semi-structured interviews with political elites) and quantitative data (quantifying manifesto statements). A secondary objective was to, more broadly, assess the alleged decline of ‘visions’ in contemporary European politics. That is, should the anticipated tensions not be recognised, or not be perceived as particularly problematic for the concerned parties, then this would allow for some more general conclusions to be made on the relationship between ideology, party behaviour and modes of competition.

‘Pulled’ or ‘Pushed’? Increased Ideological Uncertainty on the EU and Immigration ‘Issues’

The preceding chapter points to some variation across the four cases but also identifies some interesting similarities. The EU has been a particularly troublesome issue for the two key players in Britain, whereas in Belgium and the Netherlands it has only been the source of mild concern. Sweden, on the other hand, falls somewhere in between. Parts of the centre-left have struggled to accommodate a variety of views while the centre-right has not only been more enthusiastic but has also found the EU to be a much easier policy area to deal with. The degree of conflict and indecisiveness that has surrounded immigration shows a similar pattern, and has been much more of an ‘issue’ for the British parties than it has been for the remaining ones. Previous research had tended to explain these differences by emphasising certain context-specific factors (e.g. the instigator roles played by Belgium and the Netherlands, the British and Swedish ‘exceptions’, particular migration histories), or the changing geo-political and socio-economic climates (e.g. adapting to decolonisation, increased mobility and labour market demands) or by referencing particular foreign policy dilemmas (e.g. how to remain as a neutral actor on the world stage or how to manage the transition from ‘colonial power’ to ‘member of the Commonwealth’). Yet, cutting across the specifics are questions of sovereignty (the EU) and equality (immigration), which appear to have been just as important for parties on the left as they have been for those on the right.

The Changing Modes of Party Competition (1991–2010)

The West European party systems and the role of ideology do indeed appear to have changed. As explored in the preceding chapter, both ‘issues’ have been problematic for parts of the mainstream to engage with, especially so when the political space is characterised by a plurality of cleavages and should parties also have conflicting views on the role and remit of the state. Although some of the parties (particularly of the liberal and post-material type) seem to be more ideologically in tune, others (particularly of the social democratic/socialist and conservative type) have found the opposing streams more difficult to handle. But at the same time, immigration appears to cause a greater degree of internal tension than the EU has done. A reasonable expectation would thus be that the more ideological strain that parties experience, the more likely they are to focus on (re)claiming ownership rather than risking to accentuate these tensions by negotiating what type of choice that they will offer to the electorate. Yet, this may not be the only reason for why parties rarely seem to offer any alternatives on these questions. Should parties’ issue positions converge, then it will also make electoral ‘sense’ to emphasise competence and their track record of delivery instead (Green, 2007; Green-Pedersen, 2007; Petrocik, 1996). And the effects of an FPTP system may equally prompt parties to frame their positions in ownership — rather than choice — discourses (Green and Hobolt, 2008).

The Changing Nature of Party Competition

Party systems across Europe have become increasingly complex and volatile (Enyedi and Deegan-Krause, 2010). New questions have emerged — with the attendant formation of ‘new’ parties — which have often come to challenge the status quo of party competition (Harmel and Gibson, 1995; Franklin, 1992). This change is said to manifest itself in the increased prominence of lifestyle, value and environmental questions that have taken the political conversations in a post-material direction over recent decades (Bomberg, 2002; Davis and Davenport, 1999; Knutsen, 1990; Inglehart, 1971). But this volatility also relates to those novel questions that have entered the party-political agendas and which do not always have an obvious dimensional fit or any equally obvious modes of framing (see e.g. Chong and Druckman, 2007; Rydgren, 2005; Taggart, 1995). And simultaneously, the party-electorate linkages show increasing signs of dissonance and friction (Walgrave and Nuytemans, 2009; Hobolt, 2008; Jones and Baumgartner, 2005), and parties are also said to be increasingly difficult to distinguish from one another. The behaviour of the voters has in turn echoed these developments and points to how competence and an ability to deliver seem to be more important than ideological proximity for their choice of party (Green and Hobolt, 2008; Holian, 2004; van der Brug, 2004).

Competing in Multidimensional Party Spaces

Numerous attempts have been made to classify parties along some form of left-right continuum using either party publications; expert judgements or voters’ self-placements to identify these locations (Budge, 2000; 2001; Gabel and Huber, 2000; Giljam and Oscarsson, 1996; Inglehart and Klingemann, 1987). While it has become a standard vocabulary in the field, the meaning of ‘left-right’ is said to be so diverse that it is ‘multifaceted at best, elusive at worst’ (Arian and Shamir, 1983: 139). This elusiveness stems from prevailing discrepancies regarding the essence of the party-ideological space (Huber and Inglehart, 1995). The literature is thus characteristically divided on the topic. Some suggest that a ‘new’, post-material divide has come to supersede the ‘old’, material cleavage (Flanagan and Lee, 2003; Inglehart, 1997; Knutsen, 1990; 1995a; 1995b; see also Clark and Lipset, 1991), while others consider the key change to be the meaning of these ‘left-right’ divide(s) (Jahn, 2010; Kriesi et al., 2006). And while a further grouping has come to accept the existence of multidimensional dimensions, they also disagree on the nature — and salience — of these divisions (Linhart and Shikano, 2009; Kitschelt and McGann, 1995; van der Brug, 2004; Evans et al., 1996; Daalder, 1984; Budge and Farlie, 1978). However, what the above camps appear to be in agreement on is how a majority of the West European polities were structured around disagreements for much of the post-war period, especially regarding the remit of state involvement in the economy.

(Almost) Contesting the EU and Immigration (1945–1990)

As suggested in the introductory chapter, there has been ample variation regarding the degree and the sources of conflict surrounding the two ‘issues’. This variation is said to connect not only to historical reasons but also to some context specific factors. Although bubbling beneath the surfaces, neither the EU nor immigration managed to fully develop into key election issues for much of the post-war period, even though several of the necessary conditions were in place. This chapter outlines the trajectories that Belgium, Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden followed up until the late 1980s, and accounts for the explanations found in the literature as to why the ‘issues’ never quite took off. These reasons are often linked to the external environment that the respective parties functioned in, and had to relate to (e.g. the instigator role played the Low Countries, Britain’s changing position on the world stage, Sweden’s commitment to neutrality, the changing patterns of international migration, the changing interpretations of citizenship and the emergence of the populist radical right). Although important for assessing the relative levels of politicisation, they also downplay the internal ideological processes which are likely to affect the complicated relationships these parties have had with both ‘issues’.