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"This Eurosceptic Isle" - How Eurosceptic is the Conservative Party compared to the Labour Party in 2015?

Loholter, Dajana (2015) "This Eurosceptic Isle" - How Eurosceptic is the Conservative Party compared to the Labour Party in 2015?

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Abstract:Following the UK general election this year, the newly re-elected Prime Minister David Cameron reinforced its party manifesto commitment to hold an “in-out” referendum on the British EU membership. Moreover, reserved attitudes towards the European integration have been found various times in different British political parties. But how Eurosceptic is the Conservative Party really today? And does their main political competitor, the Labour Party, display similar levels? This thesis investigates the current manifestation of attitudes towards the European integration in a comparative case study. In a first step, five dimensions of Euroscepticism with political parties are identified, recurring on Taggart/Szczerbiak, Kopecky/Mudde and Boomgaarden et al. These dimensions are, in a second step, examined in the two parties´ manifestos for the above mentioned election following Mayring´s Qualitative Content Analysis approach. In four of the five identified dimensions of Euroscepticism, the Conservatives show quantitatively or qualitatively more Eurosceptic attitudes. The biggest difference between the two parties can be found with the usage of negative emotions which Labour´s manifesto lacks totally. This leads to the conclusion that the ruling Conservative Party shows, two years before the scheduled referendum, more signs of Euroscepticism.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:89 political science
Programme:Management Society and Technology BSc (56654)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/68134
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