The populist politics of Euroscepticism in times of crisis: Comparative conclusions
| Author | Andrea LP Pirro,Paul Taggart,Stijn van Kessel |
| DOI | 10.1177/0263395718784704 |
| Published date | 01 August 2018 |
| Date | 01 August 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Special Issue Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0263395718784704
Politics
2018, Vol. 38(3) 378 –390
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0263395718784704
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The populist politics of
Euroscepticism in times of
crisis: Comparative conclusions
Andrea LP Pirro
Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy
Paul Taggart
University of Sussex, UK
Stijn van Kessel
Queen Mary University of London, UK
Abstract
This article offers comparative findings of the nature of populist Euroscepticism in political parties
in contemporary Europe in the face of the Great Recession, migrant crisis, and Brexit. Drawing
on case studies included in the Special Issue on France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands,
Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom, the article presents summary cross-national data on the
positions of parties, the relative importance of the crisis, the framing of Euroscepticism, and the
impact of Euroscepticism in different country cases. We use this data to conclude that there are
important differences between left- and right-wing variants of populist Euroscepticism, and that
although there is diversity across the cases, there is an overall picture of resilience against populist
Euroscepticism.
Keywords
crisis, Euroscepticism, impact, political parties, populism
Received: 20th April 2018; Revised version received: 23rd May 2018; Accepted: 27th May 2018
This Special Issue has focused on three crises that have hit the European Union (EU) in
the past decade; the economic and financial crisis (the ‘Great Recession’), the migrant
crisis, and Brexit. As we have seen, the crises have been different in their nature and con-
sequences and gave rise to socioeconomic as well as sociocultural concerns within mem-
ber states, in addition to raising broader questions about the sustainability of the European
integration project. Each of these crises has offered opportunities for populist parties,
Corresponding author:
Andrea LP Pirro, Department of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi,
Firenze 50123, Italy.
Email: andrea.pirro@sns.it
784704POL0010.1177/0263395718784704PoliticsPirro et al.
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