The politicization of European integration in domestic political arenas: the NRR party family

In this paper, we analyze why and how parties of the new radical right politicize European integration in the context of their broader ideological and programmatic adaptation to a changing European scenario. This paper examines the conditions under which the opposition of this party family to the EU is effectively translated into the political activation of the issue of European integration, in particular in the relationships between NRR parties and their voters. In our paper we present a comparative analysis of the incorporation of European integration as a key element in the relationships between NRR parties and their voters. Our comparative analysis examines the party and party-system level factors that explain variation in the extent to which the NRR activates the issue of European integration and plays the card of euroskepticism. We also focus on the demand side factors that condition the appeal of EU issues to NRR voters. We explore these questions across both Western and Eastern Europe by using the European Social Survey (2008) and the UNC-Chapel Hill expert survey on political parties and European integration.