All Quiet on the European Front? Assessing the Impact of the Great Recession on Euroscepticism in Portugal

During the Great Recession, radical left parties in Portugal intensified their opposition to Europe and public opinion became increasingly eurosceptic. Nevertheless, the cooperation among leftist parties following the 2015 elections, which brought eurosceptic parties into power, coincided with a rise in positive attitudes towards the EU. This paper aims to explain this puzzle by examining party stances and citizens’ views on Europe before and after the crisis. It will be argued that the economic crisis had mainly a temporary impact on party and popular euroscepticism. Both ideological and strategic considerations help explain euroscepticism, but the Great Recession did not structurally alter party-voter alignments and the dynamics of the party system.