Supranational Identity Politics: Sovereignism in the EU
Abstract
The implementation of identity politics policies conceived at a supranational level appears to motivate the coordination of populist movements, the radicalization of their discourses, and an increasing resentment towards minority groups. I investigate the reaction of populist sovereignist political movements, among recently admitted EU member states, to the implementation of European Union policies that involve the positive discrimination of minority groups and mandated refugee relocations. The implementation of such policies seems to have contributed to the resentment toward policy-favored minorities, the increase of anti-immigration values, the success of extremist political expressions, and the mistrust of political institutions and traditional parties. The research relies on a multiple case studies approach to identify the effects of the implementation of EU-mandated affirmative action and immigration policies. The political and economic landscapes of study cases, taken from post-communist Eastern Europe (primarily, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary), are described based on the existing literature. The general arguments are supported through a review of quantitative studies that incorporate regression analyses on electoral data and web content analysis. Arguments are also complemented by a review of World Bank, OECD and Eurostat reports, election results, as well as the theoretical literature on ethnic competition, welfare spending, multiculturalism, and the specifics of the political parties and systems of the selected countries.