Abstract
This paper seeks to explain the recent rise in Dutch Euroscepticism, especially in the wake of the Great Recession and the Euro Crisis. The rise of Eurosceptic sentiment reflects more than just a “left-” versus “right-wing” political divide in Dutch politics; rather, it signals an increasingly prevalent divide between pro-EU and anti-EU voters and policies. Though Eurosceptic sentiment already existed in Dutch politics at the beginning of the 21st century, this paper argues that the financial crises of the 2000s played a major role in the significant rise of Eurosceptic sentiment and rhetoric in Dutch politics. The Great Recession and the resulting Euro Crisis allowed the pre-existing and potentially more “dormant” Eurosceptic sentiments to break through and influence Dutch politics through populist Eurosceptic parties like the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV) and Dutch Socialist Party (SP), as evidenced in voting outcomes in the parliamentary elections following the era of financial crises.
DOI
10.5642/urceu.TOEP1222
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Harrill, Shiloh A.
(2023)
"Dutch Euroscepticism: The Manifestation of Pre-Financial Crisis Fears in Post- Financial Crisis Politics and Voting Patterns,"
Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union:
Vol. 2023, Article 11.
DOI: 10.5642/urceu.TOEP1222
Available at:
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/urceu/vol2023/iss1/11