Measuring Party Positions on European Integration: Results from an Expert Survey

Abstract

Some observers have held that political parties were minor players in the process of European integration due to the low salience of the issue, and the prevalence of intra party disagreement over European questions. Recent scholarship and the rising salience of European issues have brought increased attention to the role of political parties. However, the study of the relationship between party positions and both public opinion and policy outcomes has been hampered by an absence of comparable data on party positions. This research note presents the findings of an expert survey on party positions on the issue of European integration. In addition to estimates of the parties' positions on the issue itself, this survey provides information on the importance of the issue of European integration to each party, and the extent of internal dissent within parties. The data also indicate that parties have, on average, become increasingly pro-European over the period 1984 - 1996. Both the salience of the issue of integration and the extent of intra-party disagreement have increased during this time period. However, deep intra-party divisions over Europe appear to be less prevalent than commonly thought.