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European integration and the member states : The national case, public opinion, party systems, and the role of electoral systems

University of British Columbia

Each of the member states of the European Union has had internal debates over the nature of European integration. The terms of the debate in each of the states have been framed by the visions of Jean Monnet and Charles de Gaulle. Monnet's vision of Europe was that of a federal and politically united continent, de Gaulle's vision of Europe was that of a loosely grouped and non-political Union. The goal of this thesis is to understand why the states have had different degrees of debate over European integration. Chapter I explains how the geographical, historical, economic, and political dimensions of a state can affect public opinion on European integration. A 'Combined Pro and Anti-integrationist Ranking of Member States' is made at the end of the chapter by giving each state one point for each pro-integrationist dimension that applies to it, and by subtracting one point for each anti-integrationist dimension that applies to it. Chapter II tests the ranking made in Chapter I by examining public opinion polls and European Parliament election results. A state that ranks as anti-integrationist in Chapter I is expected to have more anti-integrationist public opinion than the other states, and greater electoral results for its anti-integrationist political parties. It is expected that any exception to this pattern will be explained as the effect of a state's electoral system. Chapter III will complete our study by examining which states seem most likely to develop anti-integrationist political parties in the near future. By comparing the percentage of the public that poll as anti-integrationist to the percentage of the public that votes anti-integrationist, we will be able to make a rough estimate of which state has the capacity to develop anti-integration parties. We expect to find that our preliminary ranking of the member states in Chapter I will be corroborated by the evidence found in the subsequent chapters. These findings will allow us to better understand the current debates in the member states over European integration, and will allow us to suggest possibilities about where the new members of the EU will eventually stand on the integration debate.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-02-03

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/4150

Political Science

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace