Wouter van der Brug, born in Bussum, the Netherlands, in 1963. Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam. Professor of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam.
Fellow (1 September 2012 – 30 June 2013)
Euroscepticism and European Elections
In this project I aim to investigate the conditions under which increased contestation over European unification in European elections decrease or increase feelings of eurocepticism among voters. The project looks into the mutual relationships between parties en voters. Two types of relationships might theoretically exist: top-down (where public opinion is receptive to political parties) and bottom-up (where parties adjust their policies to public opinion). The main question is under which conditions this relationship tends to be more bottom-up or more top-down? The project takes into account the salience of the issue of European unification for parties and voters, as well as the degree to which the issue becomes polarised. The project will employ data from the European Elections Studies 2009, which consists, amongst others, of a content analysis of party manifestos, a survey among politicians and a survey among citizens in all 27 member states of the EU.
Selected Publications
Van der Brug, W. & J. van Spanje (2009), ‘Immigration, Europe and the ‘New’ Cultural Cleavage’, European Journal of Political Research 48:309-334.
Van der Brug, W., C. van der Eijk & M. Franklin (2007), The Economy and the Vote: Economic Conditions and Elections in Fifteen Countries. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Van der Brug, W., M. Fennema & J. Tillie (2005), ‘Why Some Anti-immigrant Parties Fail and Others Succeed: A Two-step Model of Electoral Support’. Comparative Political Studies 38(5): 537-73.