From Periphery to Center: Shifts in Levels of National Identity in Western Europe.

Despite the increased rhetorical weight of the European Union over this time period, this paper contends that national identity has moved from a more right-wing phenomenon to the center of European polities. The movement towards European Union has created, in a sense, an equal and opposite reaction towards the nation-state and increased the salience of national identities in unexpected ways. This shift may have precipitated the decisive defeat of referenda on the European Constitution in the Netherlands and France in 2005. The stickiness of national identity hinders the full integration of European nations on matters large and small, from a common fiscal policy to a pan-European military force. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]