From crisis to critique How crises influence the relationship between authoritarianism and Euroscepticism in the European Union
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2025-06-13
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en
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The EU is facing crisis after crisis in today’s changing geopolitical landscape. Since the financial crisis of 2008, the European Union has been stuck in a polycrisis, constantly preparing for whatever challenges the future may bring. In response, the EU has been showing autocratic characteristics, centralizing its authority and increasing its power. Since that time, however, citizen’s opinions on the Union have become less positive. This thesis examines if there is any relation between these phenomenon, building on theory by Tillman (2013, 2021) and using authoritarianism as an explanatory factor for Euroscepticism, investigating to what extent crises influence the effect from authoritarian values on Euroscepticism. By doing three separate quantitative multilevel regression analyses, this thesis looks at the effect of identities on the relationship between authoritarianism and Euroscepticism, analyzes the effect of a single crisis on that relationship and maps the effect of the polycrisis on the relationship over time. The first analysis shows that having a strong national identity makes authoritarian citizens more Eurosceptic, but having a strong European identity does not hold any significant effect on those feelings. The second analysis shows that a single crisis may intensify the effect from authoritarianism on Euroscepticism among EU citizens. The third analysis shows that the polycrisis is likely to have strengthened this effect throughout the last decades. These findings indicate that authoritarianism is a relevant factor in explaining Euroscepticism in combination with crises, specifically in times of high political instability.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen