"Religion and Attitudes toward the European Union: The New Member States; A Research Note"

Nelsen, Brent L. and Guth, James F. (2005) "Religion and Attitudes toward the European Union: The New Member States; A Research Note". In: UNSPECIFIED, Austin, Texas. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

This research note represents a first attempt at exploring the impact of religion on attitudes toward integration in post-communist Europe. Using Central and Eastern Euro-Barometer 2: Current Affairs and the Media, September-October 1991 we develop a multivariate regression model of support for the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe, paying particular attention to the role of religious tradition and church attendance to the formation of attitudes. Alternative theories also tested include: ideology, cognitive mobilization, European identity, economic optimism, urban living and sex. The results show that since religious variables only emerge in multivariate analysis, religion, mainly Catholicism, matters, but not in as direct a way as it does in the West. Cognitive mobilization demonstrates the most powerful impact on attitudes toward integration. The model is also run for each country in the study demonstrating differences between Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant countries.

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