What's the matter with the British? Ideology and government support for the European Monetary System

Author: Aspinwall, Mark

Source: European Journal of Political Research, Volume 42, Number 6, October 2003 , pp. 811-839(29)

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Abstract:

This article compares the preferences of France, Italy and Britain on the creation of the European Monetary System in 1978-1979, especially the Exchange Rate Mechanism, which stabilised nominal exchange rates. My claim is that the different conclusions reached by the governments (France and Italy in, Britain out) cannot be explained by economic circumstances or by organised interests, and I elaborate an intervening ideological variable which helps explain preferences. Deducing from spatial theory that where decision-makers `sit' on the left-right spectrum matters to their position on the European Monetary System, I argue that the ideology of decision-makers is a good predictor of membership. Where centrists were in power, the government's decision was to join. Where left or right extremists participated in decision making, the government's decision was negative. The article reviews the positions taken by the national political parties in and out of government. It is intended to contribute to the growing comparativist literature on the European Union (EU), and to the burgeoning literature on EU-Member State relations.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.00105

Affiliations: 1: Department of Economics and Public Policy, Robert Gordon University, UK

Publication date: 2003-10-01