Democratic Support, Populism, and the Incumbency Effect

Many have argued that the rise of populism presents a danger to liberal democracy. But do supporters of populist parties oppose liberal democracy? Using an original survey instrument covering 28 European democracies, we examine support for aspects of liberal democracy among populist- and nonpopulist-party supporters. Our findings show that it is not primarily populism, but rather incumbency status that correlates with a lack of support for liberal-democratic norms that can constrain majority rule. This is especially the case for radical-right party supporters who favor liberal democracy when in opposition, but oppose core liberal-democratic norms when in government

The Juncker Presidency: The ‘Political Commission’ in Practice

First published: 27 October 2019Appearing before the European Parliament (EP) in July 2014 as candidate for the European Commission Presidency, Jean‐Claude Juncker declared that his would be a ‘political Commission’. With this formulation, which he would repeat continually over the coming months and indeed throughout his mandate, Juncker served notice that, after his appointment he had no intention simply of picking up where the outgoing Commission signed off. His administration would be different: it would take political responsibility for its actions, respond to the interests of citizens, and be prepared to defend the European Union (EU) and itself

Brexit and the everyday politics of emotion: methodological lessons from history

The 2016 European Union referendum campaign has been depicted as a battle between ‘heads’ and ‘hearts’, reason and emotion. Voters’ propensity to trust their feelings over expert knowledge has sparked debate about the future of democratic politics in what is increasingly believed to be an ‘age of emotion’. In this article, we argue that we can learn from the ways that historians have approached the study of emotions and everyday politics to help us make sense of this present moment. Drawing on William Reddy’s concept of ‘emotional regimes’, we analyse the position of emotion in qualitative, ‘everyday narratives’ about the 2016 European Union referendum. Using new evidence from the Mass Observation Archive, we argue that while reason and emotion are inextricable facets of political decision-making, citizens themselves understand the two processes as distinct and competing

In the name of "the people"? Popular Sovereignty and the 2015 Greek referendum

This article explores the rise of new conflicts of sovereignty especiallywith regard to popular sovereignty in the EU polity. It askswhether referenda in the national realm are effective tools toenhance popular sovereignty at supranational level. To elucidatethis question, we distinguish between embedded and unilateralreferenda. Empirically, the paper focuses on the referendum calledby the Greek government on the proposed Memorandum ofUnderstanding in 2015. While ambiguous from the outset, thereferendum turned out to be of an embedded nature and failedto enhance popular sovereignty. Based on elite interviews andanalysis of the discussion in the media, our analysis shows thatthe referendum was envisaged by the Greek government instrumentallyto put pressure on the other negotiating parties andtackle internal party disagreements. This turned out to be a selfdefeatingstrategy ignoring the popular mandate and failing toimprove the conditions for financial assistance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Multilingualism and the Brexit referendum

This chapter argues that the (lack of) foreign language skills has contributed to the outcome of the Brexit referendum. Theory suggests that speaking foreign languages reduces perceptions of cultural distance and contributes to the formation of transnational identities. Research also shows a link between language skills and European identity (Kuhn 2015; Díez Medrano 2018). Did Britons’ relative lack of foreign language skills play a role in the Brexit decision? Using matching methods and data from the referendum wave of the British Election Study, it is possible to estimate the effect of foreign language skills on the referendum vote. The results suggest that a significant effect of foreign language skills remains, even when taking into account education, age, gender, income, and region, party preference, and personality differences