Elucidating EU Engagement: Rethinking Dimensions of Supranational Participation

Some observers of the EU have expressed concern about the quality of its democratic governance. Such sentiments are reflected in much of the research conducted on attitudes toward the EU and voting in European Parliament elections, both of which seek to assess the vibrancy of public engagement with the European project. Yet few—if any—have considered other types of behavior that may be associated with an active EU citizenry. This paper uses original survey data from the United Kingdom to complement existing research by identifying a fuller picture of the types and frequency of EU participation. We also assess the extent to which predictors from existing public opinion literature (identity threat, economic concerns, political attitudes and sociodemographics) predict these various types of participation. Results suggest that citizens pursue a wide array of participation avenues and that different sets of motivations underpin these different types of EU engagement

It's Not the Economy, Stupid? Analyzing Icelandic Support for EU Membership

What drives support for EU membership? We test the determinants of EU attitudes using original data from Iceland, whose recent woes have received wide attention. Given its crisis, we expect economic anxiety to drive public opinion. We find instead that economic unease is entirely mediated by assessments of the current government and that, despite the dire economic context, cultural concerns predominate. This suggests a potential disconnect between Icelandic elites’ desire for accession and the public will at large. Our results largely confirm prior findings on support for integration, further exposing the conditions under which individuals will evaluate EU membership favorably or negatively. They also highlight the utility of mediation analysis for identifying the mechanisms through which economic evaluations may operate and imply that economic indicators’ apparent insignificance in a host of other research areas may simply be a product of model misspecification

Expressions 1985

PRODUCTION STAFFLOUISE AUSTINDANA Z. BEHRENDSENAMBER HEWITTTOSHIA SOUTHRANDY STANDLEYSHELLY WILSONhttps://openspace.dmacc.edu/expressions/1006/thumbnail.jp

sj-zip-2-eup-10.1177_1465116520988907 - Supplemental material for A (supra)nationalist personality? The Big Five’s effects on political-territorial identification

Supplemental material, sj-zip-2-eup-10.1177_1465116520988907 for A (supra)nationalist personality? The Big Five’s effects on political-territorial identification by K Amber Curtis and Steven V Miller in European Union Politic

A (supra)nationalist personality? The Big Five’s effects on political-territorial identification

Recent work suggests personality affects the subjective psychological weight one attaches to an identity. This study extends prior findings showing a static effect on European identification in a single country by investigating whether a similar systematic relationship exists for a wider range of political-territorial identities (regional, national, supranational, and exclusively nationalist) across different country contexts (Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom) and over time (2012–2018). Original cross-national and panel survey data show that different traits predict both the type and degree of inclusivity of individuals’ identity attachments. These results contribute to the growing scholarship surrounding personality’s effects on EU support while underscoring the impact predispositions have on citizens’ sociopolitical orientations. They especially illuminate the contrasting profiles associated with those who identify as exclusively nationalist versus supranational European

Personality’s cross-national impact across EU attitude dimensions

Studies increasingly suggest that personal predispositions affect political attitudes, including those towards the European Union (EU). Yet little is known about the extent to which personality effects on EU support generalize across European countries or attitude domains. We use original survey data from five EU member states (Denmark, Germany, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) to investigate how the Big Five (B5) traits affect four different facets of public opinion toward the EU (support for further EU unification, views on EU membership, trust in EU institutions and support for using the euro). While we find that each of the B5 matters in at least one place, we find little consistency in personality’s effects across countries. Neither does any pattern emerge across most dimensions of EU support. Our results underscore the importance of isolating the contextual factors that might condition personality’s impact. They further call for greater theoretical development regarding why and how only certain national environments appear to lend themselves to personality effects. At a minimum, they suggest scholars should be wary of drawing conclusions about the B5’s impact from single cases