Voting Correctly during the European Parliament Elections of 2014

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2019-01-21

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en

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How representative is the European Parliament? As the role of the European Union keeps evolving, so does the attitude of the European people toward EU integration. Integration had been steadily creeping forward up until the 1990s, symbolized by a supposed permissive consensus. In contemporary European politics, Eurosceptics are found in every ideology. Does the influx of Eurosceptic MP’s in 2014 mean that the European Parliament has become more congruent? One way to study this is to study the congruence between voters and parties. This thesis does so on the topic of EU integration and approaches it from an individual voter level. What determines if a voter votes for the ‘correct’ party, conceptualized as the most congruent vote on the issue of EU integration? In this thesis Europeanization, EU integration, congruence, and voting correctly literature are all combined to seek an answer to the question: which variables increase congruence between voter and party during the 2014 EP elections, in the context of attitudes toward EU-integration? This novel question bridges different gaps in political science and has some surprising conclusions. It also presents many avenues for future research.

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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen

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