The Salience of Differentiated Integration in Party Manifestos across the European Union
The Salience of Differentiated Integration in Party Manifestos across the European Union

Summary/Abstract: Through a systematic quantitative text analysis of national and European election manifestos (2004–2022), this paper examines the salience and evolution of differentiated integration (DI) discourse among political parties in EU Member States. By identifying cross-national and temporal trends, the study highlights variations in DI salience, with a notable dominance of opt-out mechanisms. Findings suggest that differentiated integration remains a low-salience issue in electoral campaigns, appearing episodically rather than as a stable theme in party discourse. This study contributes to the literature by systematically evaluating the role of DI in party politics, revealing its fluctuating prominence in different election types and Member States.

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