Acceso usuarios
What role did the European challenge play in the domestic policy programmes and in voter choice during the 2012 French presidential elec- tion? Using three different datasets (manifestos, campaign speeches and the Cevipof post-electoral opinion poll), our results unveil the disturbing impact of the European issue. The candidates' speeches show a double focus of denouncing and politicizing (revealing a left-right structure oppo- sing welfare state/sovereign state) which echoes citizens' worries. The bi-dimensionality of attitudes towards Europe is confirmed. As these two dimen- sions do not have the same influence on electoral behavior, our results suggest that the question of the role of European integration in the emergence of a new political cleavage should not be buried too quickly.
