- Preface
- New to this edition
- List of figures
- List of boxes
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- List of abbreviations
- Guided Tour of Online Resource Centre
- 1. Introduction
- Part 1 The Historical Context
- 2. The European Union: Establishment and Development
- 3. From the Constitutional Treaty to the Treaty of Lisbon and Beyond
- Part 2 Theories and Conceptual Approaches
- 4. Neo-functionalism
- 5. Intergovernmentalism
- 6. Theorizing the European Union after Integration Theory
- 7. Governance in the European Union
- 8. Europeanization
- Part 3 Institutions and Actors
- 9. The European Commission
- 10. The European Council and the Council of the European Union
- 11. The European Parliament
- 12. The Court of Justice of the European Union
- 13. Interest Groups and the European Union
- Part 4 Policies and Policy-making
- 14. Policy-making in the European Union
- 15. EU External Relations
- 16. Enlargement
- 17. The European Union’s Foreign, Security, and Defence Policies
- 18. The Single Market
- 19. The European Union’s Social Dimension
- 20. The Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice
- 21. Economic and Monetary Union
- 22. The Common Agricultural Policy
- 23. Environmental Policy
- Part 5 Issues and Debates
- 24. Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union
- 25. Public Opinion and the European Union
- 26. The Euro Crisis and European Integration
- 27. The Future of the EU
- Glossary
- Appendix—Brexit supplement
- Bibliography (Brexit supplement)
- References
- Index
(p. 352) 25. Public Opinion and the European Union
- Chapter:
- (p. 352) 25. Public Opinion and the European Union
- Author(s):
Simona Guerra
and Lauren M. McLaren
- DOI:
- 10.1093/hepl/9780198708933.003.0025
This chapter examines trends in public opinion toward the European Union. Through the mid-1980s, EU member governments and bureaucrats were interested in limited public involvement in the integration process. With the introduction of the Single European Act and later the Constitutional Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty, member states began selling their varying visions of a renewed European project that would contribute to the further economic and political development of the EU integration process. The chapter first considers general perceptions of the EU before assessing the key factors that are believed to account for differences in mass opinion regarding the EU. These include rational utilitarianism, perceptions of the national government, political psychology factors such as cognitive mobilization and concerns about the loss of national identity, and the role of mass media in shaping attitudes towards the EU. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the level of trust towards EU institutions.
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- Preface
- New to this edition
- List of figures
- List of boxes
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- List of abbreviations
- Guided Tour of Online Resource Centre
- 1. Introduction
- Part 1 The Historical Context
- 2. The European Union: Establishment and Development
- 3. From the Constitutional Treaty to the Treaty of Lisbon and Beyond
- Part 2 Theories and Conceptual Approaches
- 4. Neo-functionalism
- 5. Intergovernmentalism
- 6. Theorizing the European Union after Integration Theory
- 7. Governance in the European Union
- 8. Europeanization
- Part 3 Institutions and Actors
- 9. The European Commission
- 10. The European Council and the Council of the European Union
- 11. The European Parliament
- 12. The Court of Justice of the European Union
- 13. Interest Groups and the European Union
- Part 4 Policies and Policy-making
- 14. Policy-making in the European Union
- 15. EU External Relations
- 16. Enlargement
- 17. The European Union’s Foreign, Security, and Defence Policies
- 18. The Single Market
- 19. The European Union’s Social Dimension
- 20. The Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice
- 21. Economic and Monetary Union
- 22. The Common Agricultural Policy
- 23. Environmental Policy
- Part 5 Issues and Debates
- 24. Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union
- 25. Public Opinion and the European Union
- 26. The Euro Crisis and European Integration
- 27. The Future of the EU
- Glossary
- Appendix—Brexit supplement
- Bibliography (Brexit supplement)
- References
- Index