Single Cases or a Unique Pair? The Swiss and Norwegian ‘No’ to Europe

Pascal Sciarini and Ola Listhaug

Journal of Common Market Studies, 1997, vol. 35, issue 3, 407-438

Abstract: This article compares the Swiss and Norwegian European policies. It combines an analysis of the sectoral interests among the elite, based on a qualification of Katzenstein's small‐state/flexible adjustment thesis, and an analysis of the referendum behaviour, based on survey data. At the first level, it shows that the structure of each state's economic dependence on the European Union (EU), on the one hand, and the threat of liberalization among domestic sectors of the economy, on the other, were more decisive than the ‘liberal’ or ‘social’ pattern of adaptation to international changes in shaping Swiss and Norwegian elite's attitude towards European integration. At the second level, it suggests that, if taking part in the EU project—be it through full membership or through membership in the European Economic Area—is not perceived as an economic necessity, cultural and political factors can have a more decisive impact than economic factors on the voters' decision.

Date: 1997
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