Marrying European and Domestic Politics? The Marriage Referendum in Croatia and Value-Based Euroscepticism
Volume
70
Pagination
321 - 344
DOI
10.1080/09668136.2018.1457136
Journal
Europe - Asia Studies
Issue
ISSN
0966-8136
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
© 2018 University of Glasgow. On 1 December 2013, Croatia voted in a referendum on the constitutional definition of marriage. While recent scholarship has highlighted the symbolic nature of the referendum in domestic politics, its European dimension has not been considered. Using Leconte’s notion of value-based Euroscepticism, this article explores the role of European politics in the marriage referendum, using electoral data at the municipal level. The analysis demonstrates that the referendum, at least partly, was a proactive attempt to halt the Europeanisation of same-sex marriage. The article also sheds light on local resistance to EU homonationalist politics.