Cleavages, competition and coalition-building: Agrarian parties and the European question in Western and East Central Europe

The central argument in this article is that Europeanisation of party politics - the translation of issues related to European integration into domestic party politics - is driven by the dynamics of long- and short-term party strategy. Variations in the patterns of Euroscepticism found in agrarian parties across Europe is therefore explained in terms of three central variables: the agrarian parties' long-term policy goals linked to identity and interest; their position in the party systems and the mainstream left- and right-wing parties' stance on European integration; and their long- and short-term electoral strategies and office-related incentives.