Constitutional Law and Euroscepticism

Abstract This empirical chapter employs qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to examine the book’s subject matter. It focuses on general election manifestos of right-wing Eurosceptic parties in Western Europe, exploring the political and legal reasons why some manifestos adopted a strategy of mobilizing constitutionalism against European integration, while others did not. The chapter then extends its analysis to assess the applicability of these findings in other contexts, including left-wing parties, Eurosceptic parties in Central and Eastern Europe, and manifestos from European elections. It demonstrates that the Eurosceptic mobilization of constitutionalism results from critical junctures, such as constraining opportunities created by economic shocks like the Euro-crisis, as well as incentives faced by successful Eurosceptic parties in countries lacking a tradition of strong-form constitutional review.