If you were a migrant. Candidate preference as a hypothesis

Abstract

Based on data from a survey of all countries in the European Union (UE25), we attempt to comprehend the way in which European societies link concepts of citizenship (based on the possible transfer of voting rights in cases of geographic mobility) with their voting preferences (based on preference for a candidate from either their country of origin or the destination country) in the hypothetical case that survey respondents were to migrate to another country in the European Union. The results show a significant correlation between four different notions of citizenship in cases of mobility (nation-based, state-based, cosmopolitan, and based on the forfeiture of voting rights) and the preferred candidate's country of origin. A nation-based view of citizenship is linked to a preference for candidates from the respondent's country of origin, while respondents with a state-oriented view of citizenship are likely to prefer candidates from their country of destination. The conclusions drawn from this exploratory study allow us to further reflect on the explanatory factors that influence these conceptions of nationality and citizenship (within the current context of economic and social crisis), as well as on the effect this set of public opinion may have on the future of the European Union as a supranational, democratic political project.