Authors
Paolo Dardanelli
Publication date
2001
Journal
Queen's Papers on Europeanisation
Volume
2001
Issue
5
Pages
1-35
Publisher
Queen's University of Belfast
Description
The paper addresses the question of whether and how European integration affects demands for regional self-government in states which are member of the European Union. It does so analysing the dynamics of the demand for self-government in Scotland on the basis of a comparison between 1979 and 1997. What impact did membership of the EU have on support for self-government at the two points in time? Did the process of European integration between 1979 and 1997 increase support for self-government in Scotland? Through the analysis of public opinion data drawn from a series of election and referendum studies, the paper argues that the demand for self-government in Scotland was strongly affected by the EU dimension from the mid-1980s onwards. The different result of the 1997 referendum relative to the 1979 referendum can be explained as the result of a process of Europeanisation between the two points in time. By improving the cost/benefit balance of self-government relative to the status quo, European integration indirectly raised the demand for the former. Two broader conclusions follow: that European integration impacted on the demand for selfgovernment at mass public level through the intervening variable of political actors' strategies and that it was the single market rather than regional policy that had the strongest impact.
Total citations
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