Affiliation:
1. Syracuse University Syracuse
Abstract
AbstractPopulist actors who conduct democratic backsliding incrementally eat away at institutional checks on power. Whilst they largely focus on domestic institutions, European Union (EU) member states have an international democratic institution to consider as well. In this article, we present and test a theory explaining changes in backslider rhetoric towards the EU. Whilst they often claim a position of Euroscepticism, their interactions with the EU are complicated. We argue that anti‐democratic actors consider the public perception of the EU and the likelihood of enforcement and sanctions from the EU when deciding what type of rhetoric to use. Using speeches from Orbán in Hungary and Duda in Poland, we find that the effect of public opinion on speech sentiment varies between leaders. We also find evidence of position blurring in response to increases in EU threat levels.
Reference64 articles.
1. Alekseev A.(2021)Appendix for the Article “It Is in the Nation‐State That Democracy Resides”. How the Populist Radical Right Discursively Manipulates the Concept of Democracy in the EU Parliamentary Elections. Harvard Dataverse V1 UNF:6:S2ewmSa/56zHW8ikLYRmaA== [fileUNF]. Available from:https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/93VEGG
2. “It Is in the Nation‐State That Democracy Resides:” How the Populist Radical Right Discursively Manipulates the Concept of Democracy in the EU Parliamentary Elections;Alekseev A.;Journal of Language and Politics,2022
3. Barroso J.M.D.(2012)European Commission State of the Union 2012 Address. Available from:https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_12_596
4. On Democratic Backsliding;Bermeo N.;Journal of Democracy,2016
5. The Public, the Protester, and the Bill: Do Legislative Agendas Respond to Public Opinion Signals?;Bernardi L.;Journal of European Public Policy,2021