Replication Data for: "Civil Liberties or Economic Freedom? The Political Space of Internet Policy in the European Parliament, 1999 - 2014"

Abstract: The Internet has become central to economic exchange and political communication, placing regulatory initiatives high on European policy agendas. What cleavages shape the political conflicts surrounding Internet policy? I argue that proposals to regulate the Internet frequently affect not only economic interests but also the civil liberties of citizens in the online environment. Political parties must therefore balance their stance on market regulation and their socio-cultural preferences on the “liberal-authoritarian” dimension of political contestation. To explore party competition on Internet policy in the European Union, I analyse all Internet policy roll-call votes in the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014. Ideal point estimation shows that political competition in this policy field is best explained by the “liberal-authoritarian” dimension. Reinforcing this finding, two case studies illustrate how civil liberty concerns motivate left-wing parties and the liberal party group to form voting coalitions despite diverging economic preferences.

摘要：互联网已成为经济往来与政治传播的核心载体，使得监管举措成为欧盟政策议程的重中之重。究竟何种分歧塑造了围绕互联网政策的政治冲突？本文主张，互联网监管提案往往不仅会影响经济利益，还会波及公民在网络空间中的公民自由。因此，各政党需在市场监管立场与政治博弈“自由-威权”维度的社会文化偏好之间寻求平衡。为探究欧盟互联网政策领域的政党竞争格局，本文分析了1999年至2014年间欧洲议会的全部互联网政策唱名表决（roll-call votes）。理想点估计（Ideal point estimation）结果显示，该政策领域的政治竞争可通过“自由-威权”维度得到最佳解释。为进一步佐证这一发现，两项案例研究阐释了尽管经济偏好存在分歧，公民自由关切仍如何推动左翼政党与自由派党团结成投票联盟。