Journal article

Publication year: 2018

Journal: European Political Science Review

Volume number: 10

Issue number: 4

ISSN: 1755-7739

eISSN: 1755-7747

Open access status: Green

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773918000097

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Abstract: 
This paper contributes to current debates on the politicization of international politics by examining party-political contestation of peace and security missions. It is guided by two inter-related questions, (a) to what extent deployment decisions are contested amongst political parties and (b) what drives such contestation. We examine data from a new data set on parliamentary votes on deployment decisions in France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom and from the Chapel Hill Expert Survey. Against conventional wisdom and in an effort to address the often-overlooked role of political parties, we find that military deployments have been systematically contested amongst political parties across Europe. Further, we find that contestation is driven by the left/right axis, as opposed to newer cleavages captured here by the so-called gal/tan axis. We also find evidence that patterns of contestation depend on parties' positions in government or opposition, a factor we relate to bureaucratic and international pressures on the parties in office, and to political opportunities for opposition parties.

Harvard Citation style: Wagner, W., Herranz-Surralles, A., Kaarbo, J. and Ostermann, F. (2018) Party politics at the water's edge: contestation of military operations in Europe, European Political Science Review, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773918000097

APA Citation style: Wagner, W., Herranz-Surralles, A., Kaarbo, J., & Ostermann, F. (2018). Party politics at the water's edge: contestation of military operations in Europe. European Political Science Review. 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773918000097