ABSTRACT
Classifications of political parties typically distinguish sub-national regionalist parties from statewide nationalist ones. There is a general acceptance of the thesis that contemporary Western European regionalist parties develop strategies that aim to defend territorial interests in opposition to statewide authority. This chapter discusses that a dual frame, namely a co-occurrence between regionalist and nationalist claims, might emerge and develop over time. It argues that since the European Union is often framed as a rival construct by regionalists, some of them in a period of rising Eurosceptic orientations might see the defence of national interest as an acceptable if undesirable option. In sum, there is widespread acceptance of the opinion that regionalist parties in Western Europe develop strategies that aim to defend territorial interests against statewide authority, as the latter naturally tends to be the main polemic target of regionalist parties.
