understanding the discrepancies

Public attitudes related to social Europe are important for legitimating the aspirations of the European Union and European politicians to deepen European integration. This paper investigates public opinion about social Europe by analyzing attitudes related to the basic principles for European social security measures and attitudes about implementing a uniform European social security system. Based on a survey conducted in 13 European countries, it explores the discrepancies between the two interrelated phenomena and investigates in detail the factors responsible for the strong support for general principles, but fizzling support for the implementation of a European social system. The main findings demonstrate that the value-based mechanisms are primarily responsible for carrying over the positive attitudes towards the general principles to positive attitudes towards a uniform European social security system. In contrast, self-interest does not play a prominent role. Left-leaning individuals, emphasizing the justice principle of need and who identify and trust the European Union are the primary proponents of general principles related to social Europe, as well as for the potential realization of a uniform European welfare system

The Influence of Socialist Socialization on Attitudes toward Income Inequality

Despite convergence processes between Western and post-socialist societies in the past three decades, there are still considerable cross-country differences in individuals’ attitudes toward income inequality. To explain these differences, studies have primarily focused on the role of macro level differences and have only theoretically acknowledged how the role of diverging socialization experiences could also be responsible. To date, little is known about the importance of socialization for attitudes toward income inequality. This article assesses whether the differences between Western and post-socialist countries are influenced by socialization effects. Applying an adapted age-period-cohort analysis on the dataset of the International Social Survey Program’s (ISSP) “Social Inequality” module in survey years 1992, 1999, and 2009, the paper shows that socialization has a substantial effect on attitudes and a socialist socialization clearly differentiates individuals from post-socialist countries from Westerners. Results underline that experiences gained in formative years are crucial for attitudes. A further finding is that both perception and preferences toward income inequality are influenced by socialization

Contrasting Generalized and Policy Attitudes toward Social Europe: Understanding the Discrepancies

Public attitudes related to social Europe are important for legitimating the aspirations of the European Union and European politicians to deepen European integration. This paper investigates public opinion about social Europe by analyzing attitudes related to the basic principles for European social security measures and attitudes about implementing a uniform European social security system. Based on a survey conducted in 13 European countries, it explores the discrepancies between the two interrelated phenomena and investigates in detail the factors responsible for the strong support for general principles, but fizzling support for the implementation of a European social system. The main findings demonstrate that the value-based mechanisms are primarily responsible for carrying over the positive attitudes towards the general principles to positive attitudes towards a uniform European social security system. In contrast, self-interest does not play a prominent role. Left-leaning individuals, emphasizing the justice principle of need and who identify and trust the European Union are the primary proponents of general principles related to social Europe, as well as for the potential realization of a uniform European welfare system

How Strong is European Solidarity?

In recent years, a series of crises have hit the European Union (i.e., the Eurozone crisis, the sovereign debt crises, the Great Recession, the refugee crisis, Brexit). Such precarious times have challenged solidarity both between European citizens, as well as between the Member States of the EU. The current paper investigates the degree of European solidarity in the European Union in the light of these developments. The paper describes the preliminary findings of a recent research project conducted on European solidarity. We surveyed citizens of 13 Members States of the EU about their disposition toward (European) solidarity. An upcoming book will offer an elaborate theoretical framework about the existence of European solidarity. Additionally, this book will also presents detailed results from the project and indepth discussion of the findings. However, we decided to publish some of the descriptive results beforehand in the form of this report as the major findings of our study have high public and political relevance. The development of recent crises has been rather fastpaced, and is in contrast with the long wait that comes with the publication of academic texts. So, the latter process hinders the most important information to reach the public and policy makers as soon as possible and this report wishes to remedy it slightly. In Chapter 1, we will elaborate on the conceptual framework of our study. By European solidarity, we understand a form of solidarity expanded beyond one’s own nation state; recipients of solidarity are other EU countries, or citizens living in another EU country. In the first part of Chapter 1, we systematically distinguish between four different domains of European solidarity: (1) Fiscal solidarity, defined as citizens’ willingness to support indebted European countries financially. (2) Welfare state solidarity, defined as citizens’ strong agreement to support those in need - unemployed, sick, and the elderly - regardless of where they live in the EU, and to reduce inequality between rich and poor people in Europe. (3) Territorial solidarity, the willingness to reduce inequality between poor and rich EU countries. (4) Finally, the refugee crisis has raised the question of (4.1) external solidarity, defined as the support for the EU to grant asylum to refugees coming from outside of EU, and (4.2) internal solidarity, defined as a strong agreement with how Member States should share the burden of distributing refugees among themselves. In the second part of Chapter 1, we define different criteria for determining the strength of European solidarity. In Chapters 2 to 5, we will apply the explicated criteria for the existence of European solidarity to each of the four domains of solidarity. By doing so, we can determine the strength of European solidarity in each domain of solidarity. As this report aims at giving a first overview of some of our results, we will apply two of the four theoretically developed criteria of European solidarity to the four domains only and present the corresponding descriptive results. Overall, our analyses reveal some unanticipated findings. Europeans altogether display a notably higher level of solidarity with citizens of other EU countries and EU states than many politicians and social scientists have so far presumed. This especially applies to the support of people in need (welfare state solidarity) and the reduction of wealth inequalities between rich and poor European countries (territorial solidarity), but also to the domain of fiscal solidarity. On top of this, European solidarity turns out to be more established than the global one. However, this optimistic view is not valid for the domain of solidarity with refugees. Whilst citizens of western and southern European countries support both, the acceptance of refugees and the fair distribution of the incurring costs and burdens be-tween European countries, the majority of people in eastern European countries do not share this point of view

How strong is European solidarity?: preliminary results from a survey conducted in 13 member states of the EU

The paper describes the preliminary findings of a recent research project conducted on Euro-pean solidarity. We surveyed citizens of 13 Members States of the EU about their disposition toward (European) solidarity. An upcoming book will offer an elaborate theoretical framework about the existence of European solidarity. Additionally, this book will also presents detailed results from the project and in-depth discussion of the findings. However, we decided to publish some of the descriptive results beforehand in the form of this report as the major findings of our study have high public and political relevance. The development of recent crises has been rather fast-paced, and is in contrast with the long wait that comes with the publication of aca-demic texts. So, the latter process hinders the most important information to reach the public and policy makers as soon as possible and this report wishes to remedy it slightly

Similarities between European and national solidarity: An empirical thought experiment applied to 13 European countries

This paper examines similarities between attitudes towards European redistribution and attitudes towards national redistribution. It maps out possible reasons for expected similarities between the two spatial levels in the degree redistribution is supported and also the underlying mechanisms that foster support rates. To examine the underlying mechanisms, the paper employs a structural equation modelling approach. Despite vastly different institutional settings, findings indicate that the degree of support for redistribution at the national and at the European level are comparable. And we can also identify a similar structure in mechanisms fostering support rates at the European level compared to the one at the national level. Moreover, the strength of these mechanisms is also comparable at the respective spatial level. The results have important consequences for our understanding of transnational mechanisms. They suggest that social entities transcending national borders possess features comparable to national social entities (i.e., nation states). Overall, this potentially suggests that national conflict lines have the capacity to be carried over into the transnational space (e.g., the European social space)

How strong is European solidarity?: preliminary results from a survey conducted in 13 member states of the EU

The paper describes the preliminary findings of a recent research project conducted on Euro-pean solidarity. We surveyed citizens of 13 Members States of the EU about their disposition toward (European) solidarity. An upcoming book will offer an elaborate theoretical framework about the existence of European solidarity. Additionally, this book will also presents detailed results from the project and in-depth discussion of the findings. However, we decided to publish some of the descriptive results beforehand in the form of this report as the major findings of our study have high public and political relevance. The development of recent crises has been rather fast-paced, and is in contrast with the long wait that comes with the publication of aca-demic texts. So, the latter process hinders the most important information to reach the public and policy makers as soon as possible and this report wishes to remedy it slightly

How strong is European solidarity?: preliminary results from a survey conducted in 13 member states of the EU

The paper describes the preliminary findings of a recent research project conducted on Euro-pean solidarity. We surveyed citizens of 13 Members States of the EU about their disposition toward (European) solidarity. An upcoming book will offer an elaborate theoretical framework about the existence of European solidarity. Additionally, this book will also presents detailed results from the project and in-depth discussion of the findings. However, we decided to publish some of the descriptive results beforehand in the form of this report as the major findings of our study have high public and political relevance. The development of recent crises has been rather fast-paced, and is in contrast with the long wait that comes with the publication of aca-demic texts. So, the latter process hinders the most important information to reach the public and policy makers as soon as possible and this report wishes to remedy it slightly

How strong is European solidarity?: preliminary results from a survey conducted in 13 member states of the EU

The paper describes the preliminary findings of a recent research project conducted on Euro-pean solidarity. We surveyed citizens of 13 Members States of the EU about their disposition toward (European) solidarity. An upcoming book will offer an elaborate theoretical framework about the existence of European solidarity. Additionally, this book will also presents detailed results from the project and in-depth discussion of the findings. However, we decided to publish some of the descriptive results beforehand in the form of this report as the major findings of our study have high public and political relevance. The development of recent crises has been rather fast-paced, and is in contrast with the long wait that comes with the publication of aca-demic texts. So, the latter process hinders the most important information to reach the public and policy makers as soon as possible and this report wishes to remedy it slightly

How strong is European solidarity?: preliminary results from a survey conducted in 13 member states of the EU

The paper describes the preliminary findings of a recent research project conducted on Euro-pean solidarity. We surveyed citizens of 13 Members States of the EU about their disposition toward (European) solidarity. An upcoming book will offer an elaborate theoretical framework about the existence of European solidarity. Additionally, this book will also presents detailed results from the project and in-depth discussion of the findings. However, we decided to publish some of the descriptive results beforehand in the form of this report as the major findings of our study have high public and political relevance. The development of recent crises has been rather fast-paced, and is in contrast with the long wait that comes with the publication of aca-demic texts. So, the latter process hinders the most important information to reach the public and policy makers as soon as possible and this report wishes to remedy it slightly