Reluctant Europeans : A Study of Brexit and Its Origin in the Classical Liberal Tradition

Sammanfattning: Brexit, a highly contested issue, sparked discussion on the future of not only the United Kingdom but also the European Union and its role as a political actor. The attempts to explain the phenomena have been plentiful, and within the discipline of political science, the discussion largely focuses on the political preferences of different identity groups. Brexit tends to be associated with European right-wing populism, Trump, and a cultural backlash towards liberal values. This study argues that this is far too strong of a simplification and that Brexit has deeper causes which cannot strictly be attributed to modern political trends. Britain has historically had great difficulties with its post-war role in Europe, and its reluctance to commit itself to Europe is far older than what current literature assumes. The study theorises that the preconditions for Brexit lie in the divergence of French and English liberalism and established that the UK is in far more agreement on the role of the EU in UK politics than at first glance. The Conflict lies between the UK and the EU, not within the UK itself, specifically how apolitical structure is made legitimate, and what it means to be a reluctant member of Europe.