Another sleeping giant? Environmental issue preferences in the 2019 European Parliament elections

Abstract

Seminal works have highlighted a growing polarisation regarding the environ ment, with supporters advocating for immediate emissions reduction and oth ers downplaying or even denying human-caused climate change. Despite this debate, little attention has been focused on how voters’ environmental prefer ences influence their electoral behaviour. Using the metaphor of the ‘sleeping giant’ from European Union politics literature, the article empirically explores how environmental issue preferences impact voting choices. Analysing stacked data from the 2019 European Election Study, the article examines the phe nomenon of environmental issue voting by shifting the unit of analysis from individuals to party-voter dyads. Results reveal that environmental preferences moderately, yet significantly, affect vote choice. This effect is more pronounced among left-leaning voters and in countries where the environmental issue is more salient among the public. Our findings shed light on patterns of environ mental preference and their role in European electoral competition.