Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

British Populism: Ideals Over The Individual, David Pipitone

Faculty Curated Undergraduate Works

Over the course of the last decade or so, a wave of populism - especially of the right-wing type - has crashed upon many democratic countries across the globe. Through this wave, sitting governments have been ousted, the direction of policy has been turned around completely, and to this day, debates about the future of democracy continue in each of them. So too was the United Kingdom hit by this wave. A boiling of right-wing resentment of David Cameron led him to call a referendum on British membership in the European Union to placate the United Kingdom Independence Party in …

Dutch Euroscepticism: The Manifestation Of Pre-Financial Crisis Fears In Post- Financial Crisis Politics And Voting Patterns, Shiloh A. Harrill

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This paper seeks to explain the recent rise in Dutch Euroscepticism, especially in the wake of the Great Recession and the Euro Crisis. The rise of Eurosceptic sentiment reflects more than just a “left-” versus “right-wing” political divide in Dutch politics; rather, it signals an increasingly prevalent divide between pro-EU and anti-EU voters and policies. Though Eurosceptic sentiment already existed in Dutch politics at the beginning of the 21st century, this paper argues that the financial crises of the 2000s played a major role in the significant rise of Eurosceptic sentiment and rhetoric in Dutch politics. The Great Recession and …

Leaving The European Union: When Euroscepticism Meets Internal Crisis Within Member States, Isabella M. Dimesa

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In the era of global stability, it is crucial to understand the nuances that maintain peace. Neoliberal institutionalism is the ideal that institutions bound together promote peace through sharing stakes and developing positive cost-benefit matrixes that ensure cooperation. The European Union (EU), a neoliberal institution, was developed to establish a peaceful, cooperative European system to further the European agenda and foster power through combined assets. The EU has manifested this success and prosperity—until one of its member states, the United Kingdom, defected from the institution, causing a shock to the EU system. Why would an institution yielding positive returns see …

Unprecedented Success: How The Alternative For Germany Party Capitalized On Eastern German Economic Grievance And Euroscepticism In 2013 And 2014, Aidan J. Schwob

Gettysburg College Headquarters

The Alternative for Germany party (AfD) has experienced a remarkably fast rise to state, federal, and European electoral success and has disrupted German politics. This paper investigates how the AfD achieved popularity in 2013 and 2014 and later became the first far-right German party since the Nazi Party to be represented in the Bundestag. I find that eastern Germany’s aging population and deficient economy engendered contempt for Angela Merkel and the Bundestag that transformed to euroscepticism when Germany committed to taxpayer bailouts of Greece during the eurozone debt crisis while ignoring domestic economic inequality. As such, the AfD’s single-issue platform …

Transnational Perspectives And Euroscepticism: A Strategical Rhetoric Of Blame, Madeline F. Bercher

Honors College Theses

The increasing success of Eurosceptic parties in national and European elections is undeniable. In the last twenty years, the European Union (EU) has faced economic, social, and political crises without much time in between. As a result, we are now the witnesses to an institutional crisis rendered even more real by the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU in January 2020. In this paper, I analyze the changes in rhetorical strategies employed by Eurosceptic parties to gather stronger electoral support.

Many scholars have now agreed that Euroscepticism and the parties representing it have become mainstream and accepted by …

Crisis In The European Union: The Politics Of Integration, Engagement, And Dissent, 2008-2016, Edward I.C. Reminiskey

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis is a comprehensive interpretation of European political history in the periodization from 2008 to 2016. The history begins with an exploration of the intellectual and political origins of the post-World War II project of European integration and the development of, and opposition to, the early institutions that eventually formed the contemporary assemblage of the European Union. Following a traditionally structured history, this work is styled as a ‘history of the present’ that specifies the role of the European Union in precipitating and attempting to overcome the financial and monetary crises, foreign policy quandaries on its Eastern periphery, an …

Supranational Identity Politics: Sovereignism In The Eu, Emilio Jacintho

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The implementation of identity politics policies conceived at a supranational level appears to motivate the coordination of populist movements, the radicalization of their discourses, and an increasing resentment towards minority groups. I investigate the reaction of populist sovereignist political movements, among recently admitted EU member states, to the implementation of European Union policies that involve the positive discrimination of minority groups and mandated refugee relocations. The implementation of such policies seems to have contributed to the resentment toward policy-favored minorities, the increase of anti-immigration values, the success of extremist political expressions, and the mistrust of political institutions and traditional parties. …

Brexit: The Causes And The Consequences, Hannah E. Day

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This argumentative paper addresses the question, why did the British public vote to leave the European Union in the June 2016 referendum? “Brexit” captivated the attention of countless scholars, journalists and political leaders, as most of the world was shocked that the “Leave” campaign, spearheaded by the UK Independence Party, ultimately won out over the “Remain” campaign. Since the Brexit vote, debates have arisen, as perplexed outsiders attempt to discern the factors that contributed to 51.9% of referendum participants voting to leave the EU. I examine two dominant causes of the Brexit vote: first, the pervasiveness of anti-immigration rhetoric and …

Historical Resistance Movements And Modern Euroscepticism, Kamil D. Lungu

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This study explores the relationship between historical resistance and their relationship to modern-day Euroscepticism. It can be seen that within the European Union, the political orientation of Eurosceptic parties differs, with some political orientations being more popular in some parts of the continent compared to others—Eastern European states tend to have right-wing parties, while many Southern European states having left-wing parties. The author suggests that this is a result of the orientation of the resistance movements to the state’s historic authoritarian regime. Case studies were conducted on Spain and Poland—two EU with similar sized area, population, and economies—looking at their …

Turkish Eu Accession: The Influence Of The Far Right, Gregory Stryker

International Relations Summer Fellows

Samuel Huntington’s concept of ‘a clash of civilizations’ is used more frequently by some in the EU to explain the question of why the EU is seemingly stalling Turkey from becoming a full member state of the EU. Scholars offer many other possible reasons to explain the attempts from the EU to delay or even prevent Turkish accession based around arguments of identity, economics, or human rights, among others. This paper takes a different approach from other scholarly works by examining the domestic politics in the countries that have delayed Turkey from progressing with the accession negotiations. I argue that …

Trumpocracy: The Rise Of Populism In Europe And America, Michael F. Kickham Iii

Theses

The purpose of this paper is to examine the root cause of the populist backlash that has been so prominent in recent western democracies. Populist backlashes have occurred with frequency over time, however since the turn of the 21st Century, they have occurred with increased frequency and effectiveness. This is largely due to a disconnect between political and media elites and the general public. I propose two models; the "fragment theory" and the "feedback loop" theory to help explain the increased effectiveness of populist movements. The "fragment theory" is the idea that fringe political parties are able to challenge mainstream …

The Engaged Eurosceptic: Explaining Eurosceptic Success And Failures In European Parliamentary Elections, Nathan William Henceroth

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Eurosceptic political parties are predicted to over perform in second-order elections such as the European Parliamentary (EP) elections. Yet, not all eurosceptic parties have been successful in taking electoral advantage of their second-order electoral benefits. I argue that EP voters respond to EP legislative behavior and reward eurosceptic parties that actively oppose the EU by posing questions and attending plenary sessions, while EP voters punish eurosceptic parties that do not actively participate in the EP. Furthermore, the media provide the vital link between eurosceptic party EP legislative engagement and EP voters by providing increased levels of media exposure for engaged …

Endpoints After Empire: Explaining Varying Levels Of Democracy In Post-Communist Europe, William John Eger Jr.

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This study seeks to determine the impetus behind varying levels of post-communist democratization in central and eastern Europe. It explores the different theories of democratization. The work takes a regional approach to examining the states. This approach isolates less traditional factors that contribute to democratic quality: history, culture and geography. Qualitative studies of each help explain why the countries of the region have such a varying level of rights and freedoms.

Visegrad Revival: Where Less Is More, In The Prospect Of Smaller Numbers, Aaron G. Sander

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This project began a number of years ago, in 2011, as a final paper for a class on the topic of Europe and the world, for which I wrote what is effectively the chapter on European defense and the formation of the Visegrad battlegroup. The topic interested me as I was perplexed when, on the matter of inter-state cooperation set against the backdrop of the formation of the EU, it was possible that the four states of Visegrad were able to agree and formulate a plan on how to get this battlegroup off the ground, all the while not having …

Fascism Revisited Or Millennial Eurosceptic Populism? Analysis And Rationale For A New Political Movement In The 21st Century, Prebble Q. Ramswell

Dissertations

Euroscepticism has steadily increased since the late 1990s, culminating in the emergence and success of numerous Eurosceptic and anti-establishment parties at the national and international level. Though often considered fascist and extremist, these groups have successfully achieved recognition and mainstream support as their once non-traditional ideas have become the norm. It is argued that these groups are a new class of social movement organization, a modern-day manifestation of fascism to be called Millennial Eurosceptic Populism. What conditions have allowed for these groups to emerge and attain such levels of success? Analysis utilizing fsQCA will test variables from McAdam’s Political Process …

Perspectives On The Eurozone Crisis: Assessing The Effects On The Political Systems Of Germany, France, And The United Kingdom, Caitlyn J. Myerson

HIM 1990-2015

In 2010, the reverberations of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis had created a whole new crisis in Europe. Five Eurozone countries, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and Cyprus all had requested financial aid packages, unable to repay their national debt. The crisis is ongoing in Europe ever since, becoming the greatest challenge presented to the Eurozone since the monetary union was formed. The intent of this thesis is to explore the effects of the Eurozone crisis on the political systems of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. This thesis will study the effects utilizing the most prominent perspectives in political economy: …

Political Party Affiliation, Regional Variation And The Demographic Correlates Of Euroscepticism On The Isle Of Great Britain, Jared Figgins

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Euroscepticism or opposition to the European Union has become a growing political philosophy among broad segments of Europe’s populace. This philosophy has manifested itself in some form throughout most of the European Union, but opinion polls and voter data indicate Euroscepticism is most acute within the United Kingdom and both among its general citizenry and elected officials. In the 2009 EU Parliament elections for the United Kingdom, the right wing United Kingdom Independence Party gained its most ever seats in the Parliament while the far-right British National Party gained its first ever seats in a national election. With overtly Eurosceptic …