Globalization, Europeanization, and the changing left-right divide

Globalization and the dynamics of European integration have often been supposed to have dramatic consequences for the course of politics. On the one hand, it has been supposed to lead to intense shifts in political values up to draft new political cleavages between ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ of globalization. On the other hand, it has also been perceived as weakening states, governments now “ruling the void” (Mair 2013). This paper proposes a closer look at the impact of globalisation and Europeanization on electoral politics. This paper des not however develop a theory of the social and economic consequences of globalization on voters and their translation into new interests. It rather focuses on the impact of globalization on governmental processes and changes in this arena also impact the relation between voters and parties. Building on data from the European Election Study of 2014 and measurement of globalization and Europeanization at the state level, this paper measures the variable impact of the left-right divide on party preferences in Europe, assuming that less governmental discretion would diminish the importance of traditional left-right issues (Hellwig 2014). To test this assumption, we rely on hierarchical models explaining propensity to vote by individual level characteristics, party level characteristics, and system level characteristics.