2024/01/21 by Giorgio Malet, Cyrille Thiébaut · 2 voices · 2 citations
Social Sciences · Business, Management and Accounting · #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #European Union Policy and Governance #Political Influence and Corporate Strategies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/1475-6765.12659
Abstract How does public opinion affect political discourse on issues that parties struggle to deal with? Although scholars tend to analyse party–voter linkages in terms of policy positions, parties can respond to public opinion by changing both the positions and the salience of their policy agenda. Based on original time‐series data of party discourse and voter preferences in France, Italy and the United Kingdom (1992–2016), this paper analyses how mainstream parties have changed their political discourse on European integration in response to an increasingly Eurosceptic public. Results show that mainstream parties have adapted their positions to changes in public opinion and have at the same time deemphasized European Union issues in their discourse as the public grew Eurosceptic. Parties did not talk more about Europe even when they followed the tides of public opinion. These findings challenge our current understanding of party responsiveness, have implications for theories of party competition, and contribute to debates on the legitimacy of the European project.