Are EU policies to blame for the significant decline in public support for the EU in Italy?
Tóm tắt
Departing from the holistic, cross-national approach of much of the previous research into public opinion on European integration and with a view to taking detailed account of the specificities of each member state which can be essential to explaining public views, this article empirically investigates the significant rise in public euroscepticism in Italy in the post-Maastricht period. This decline in European Union (EU) support is all the more surprising and significant as Italian public opinion has traditionally strongly supported the EU, and as the large majority of Italian political parties and media still remain today strongly in favour of European integration. Using Eurobarometer data, our results demonstrate that the perceived negative EU role in socio-economic and societal issues explains this decline in EU support. The effects of socio-economic and societal issues on EU support are also found to interact with one another. These results are compared to those of two similar large EU member states, namely the United Kingdom and France, and implications are drawn.
Tài liệu tham khảo
Anderson, C.J. and Kaltenthaler, K.C. (1996) The dynamics of public opinion toward European integration, 1973–1993. European Journal of International Relations 2 (2): 175–199.
Anderson, C.J. and Reichert, M.S. (1996) Economic benefits and support for membership in the EU: A cross-national analysis. Journal of Public Policy 15 (3): 231–249.
Anderson, C.J. and Smith, B. (2004) Mapping opposition to European integration 1973–2003. Workshop on Comparative Euroscepticism, 21–22 May, pp. 1–45.
Baker, D., Gamble, A., Randall, N. and Seawright, D. (2008) Euroscepticism in the British party system: ‘A source of fascination, perplexity and sometimes frustration’. In: A. Szcerbiak and P. Taggart (eds.) Opposing Europe? The Comparative Party Politics of Euroscepticism: Volume 1: Case Studies and Country Surveys. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 93–116.
Balestrini, P.P. (2007) Comparative analysis of French and British public opinion on the EU, 1992–2001. PhD thesis, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
Balestrini, P.P., Flood, C. and Flockton, C. (2010) National public opinion and the EU in the post-Maastricht era: Is the socialisation theory actually dead? Journal of Contemporary European Studies 18 (3): 377–400.
Beck, N. and Katz, J.N. (1995) What to do (and not to do) with time-series cross-section data. The American Political Science Review 89 (3): 634–647.
Brettschneider, F., Maier, M. and Maier, J. (2003) From D-mark to euro: The impact of mass media on public opinion in Germany. German Politics 12 (2): 45–64.
Carey, S. (2002) Undivided loyalties: Is national identity an obstacle to European integration? European Union Politics 3 (4): 387–413.
Carey, S. and Burton, J. (2004) The influence of the press in shaping public opinion towards the European Union in Britain. Political Studies 52: 623–640.
Cole, A., Le Gales, P. and Levy, J. (2005) Developments in French Politics. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Demos-LaPolis. (2008) VI Rapporto su Immigrazione e Cittadinanza in Europa (anteprima). Demos & Pi, http://www.demos.it, accessed 15 July 2010.
De Vreese, C.H. and Boomgaarden, H.G. (2005) Projecting EU referendums: Fear of immigration and support for European integration. European Union Politics 6 (1): 59–82.
De Vries, C.E. and Edwards, E.E. (2009) Taking Europe to its extremes: Extremist parties and public euroscepticism. Party Politics 15 (1): 5–28.
Diamanti, I. (1999) Ha Senso Ancora Discutere di Nazione? Rassegna Italiana di Sociologia XL (2): 293–321.
Eichenberg, R.C. and Dalton, R.J. (1993) Europeans and the European community: The dynamics of public support for European integration. International Organization 47 (4): 507–535.
Eichenberg, R.C. and Dalton, R.J. (2007) Post-Maastricht blues: The transformation of citizen support for European integration 1973–2004. Acta Politica 42 (2–3): 128–152.
Erikson, R., McKuen, M. and Stimson, J. (2002) The Macro Polity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Eurobarometer 67. (2007) Standard Eurobarometer 67, April-May 2007. November. TNS Opinion & Social, http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/standard_en.htm, accessed 2 October 2008.
Europa. (2005) The Schengen Acquis and its integration into the union, http://www.europa.eu, accessed 21 June 2008.
Eurostat. (2009) Crime per head of population (recorded by the police), http://www.epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu, accessed 14 September 2009.
Eurostat. (2010) Net migration and inflows of foreign populations, http://www.epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu, accessed 10 April 2010.
Flood, C. (2005) French euroscepticism and the politics of indifference. In: H. Drake, (ed.) French Relations with the European Union. London: Routledge, pp. 42–63.
Forster, A. (2002) Euroscepticism in Contemporary British Politics: Opposition to Europe in the British Conservative and Labour Parties Since 1945. London: Routledge.
Franklin, M.N., Marsh, M. and Wlezien, C. (1994) Attitudes towards Europe and referendum votes: A response to Siune and Svensson. Electoral Studies 13: 117–121.
Franklin, M.N., Van Der Eijk, C. and Marsh, M. (1995) Referendum outcomes and trust in government: Public support for Europe in the wake of Maastricht. West European Politics 18: 101–117.
FT-Harris. (2007) Harris Interactive: The Harris poll global omnibus, J6142 March pan Euro 2007. 14 March, http://www.harrisinteractive.com, accessed 28 April 2007.
Gabel, M.J. (1998) Interests and Integration: Market Liberalization, Public Opinion, and European Union. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Gabel, M. (2000) European integration, voters and national politics. West European Politics 23 (4): 52–72.
Gabel, M.J. and Palmer, H.D. (1995) Understanding variation in public support for European integration. European Journal of Political Research 27: 3–19.
Grunberg, G. (2008) Euroscepticism in France, 1992–2002. In: A. Szcerbiak and P. Taggart (eds.) Opposing Europe? The Comparative Party Politics of Euroscepticism: Volume 1: Case Studies and Country Surveys. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 38–57.
Hooghe, L. and Marks, G. (2005) Calculation, community and cues: Public opinion on European integration. European Union on Politics 6 (4): 419–443.
Il Giornale. (2010) Berlusconi: ‘Lotta a Immigrazione Clandestina Sia Rresponsabilita europea’, http://www.ilgiornale.it, accessed 8 July 2010.
Ipsos Mori. (2010) Ipsos Mori issue index. 21 April, http://www.ipsos-mori.com, accessed 9 May 2010.
Kehrberg, J.E. (2007) Public opinion on immigration in Western Europe: Economics, tolerance and exposure. Comparative European Politics 5 (3): 264–281.
Kritzinger, S., Cavatorta, F. and Chari, R. (2004) Continuity and change in party positions towards Europe in Italian parties: An examination of Parties’ Euromanifestos. Journal of European Public Policy 11 (6): 954–974.
Lahav, G. (2004) Public opinion towards immigration in the European Union, does it matter? Comparative Political Studies 37 (10): 1151–1183.
La Stampa. (2009) Frattini: ‘L’Ue Faccia Qualcosa di Piu’. 25 August, http://www.Lastampa.it, accessed 22 July 2010.
Linde, J. and Ekman, J. (2003) Satisfaction with democracy: A note on a frequently used indicator in comparative politics. European Journal of Political Research 42: 391–408.
Llamazares, I. and Gramacho, W. (2007) Eurosceptics among Euroenthusiasts: An analysis of Southern European public opinions. Acta Politica 42 (2–3): 211–232.
Lupia, A. and McCubbins, M.D. (1998) The Democratic Dilemma: Can Citizens Learn What They Need to Know? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
OECD/SOPEMI. (Various years) Trends in International Migration. Paris: OECD.
Quaglia, L. (2005) Europe and the right in Italy: An ambivalent relationship. South European Society and Politics 10 (2): 277–291.
Quaglia, L. (2008) Euroscepticism in Italy. In: A. Szcerbiak and P. Taggart (eds.) Opposing Europe? The Comparative Party Politics of Euroscepticism: Volume 1: Case Studies and Country Surveys. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 58–74.
Ray, L. (2003) Reconsidering the link between incumbent support and pro-EU opinion. European Union Politics 4 (3): 259–279.
Ray, L. (2007) Mainstream euroscepticism: Trend or oxymoron? Acta Politica 42 (2–3): 153–172.
Reif, K. (ed.) (1985) Ten second-order national elections. In: Ten European Elections: Campaigns and Results of the 1979/81 First Direct Elections to the European Parliament. Aldershot: Gower.
Steenbergen, M. and Marks, G. (2007) Evaluating expert judgments. European Journal of Political Research 46 (3): 347–366.
Tabachnick, B.G. and Fidell, L.S. (2001) Using Multivariate Statistics, 4th edn. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Taggart, P. (2006) Questions of Europe – The domestic politics of the 2005 French and Dutch referendums and their challenge for the study of European integration. Journal of Common Market Studies 44 (Annual Review): 7–25.
Triandafyllidou, A. (2002) Negotiating Nationhood in a Changing Europe: Views from the Press. Ceredigion, Wales; Washington, DC: Edwin Mellen Press.
Van Der Eijk, C. and Franklin, M.N. (1996) Choosing Europe? The European Electorate and National Politics in the Face of Union. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Watson, R. (2010) Brown's bigot blunder plunges labour campaign into crisis. The Times, 29 April, http://www.timesonline.co.uk, accessed 10 May 2010.