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When Liberal Turns Illiberal: Citizens’ Reactions to Perceived Value Changes in International Organizations
What happens when an institution with a liberal reputation adopts more illiberal policies? Even though the European Union is known for promoting liberal values, it has increasingly adopted restrictive asylum policies. In this paper, we examine the effects of what we call “liberal value clash’‘ – institutions with a liberal reputation adopting policies that run counter to their values. Using a pre-registered video experiment, we show that factual information is only a small part to make voters aware of liberal value clash. Political actors are additionally needed to make value clash more salient to shift voters’ perceptions of institutional values. When made salient, voters respond according to their ideological priors: pro-immigration voters lower their support for competence transfers to the EU in the area of asylum, while anti-immigration voters increase it. This study contributes to our understanding of political institutions by pointing out the trade-offs involved in institutions with a liberal reputation pushing more illiberal agendas, and highlights the importance of political actors in calling out liberal value clash.
Date:
10 February 2026, 12:30
Venue:
Nuffield College, New Road OX1 1NF
Venue Details:
Lecture Theatre (L staircase)
Speaker:
Ronja Sczepanski (Sciences Po)
Organising department:
Nuffield College
Organiser:
Desmond King (Nuffield College)
Organiser contact email address:
politics.secretary@nuffield.ox.ac.uk
Part of:
Nuffield College Political Science Seminars
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Members of the University only
Editor:
Maxine Collett
