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Europe Divided? Elites vs. Public Opinion on European Integration. IHS Political Science Series: 2003, No. 88

Hooghe, Liesbet (2003) Europe Divided? Elites vs. Public Opinion on European Integration. IHS Political Science Series: 2003, No. 88. [Working Paper]

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      Abstract

      This article compares preferences for Europeanizing thirteen policies among European elites, national elites, and public opinion. Elites are more willing to cede national authority in sovereignty areas, but citizens are more favorable to EU social policies. Are there contrasting logics at work? The answer is two-sided. Elites and public preferences are similar in that both are least enthusiastic about Europeanizing high-spending policies. Here is a common distributional logic: shifting authority could de-stabilize vested interests. However, as the single market intensifies labor market volatility, the public seeks to contain this distributional risk through selectively Europeanizing market-flanking policies. In contrast, elite preferences are consistent with a functional rationale, which conceives European integration as an optimal solution for internalizing externalities beyond the national state.

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      Item Type: Working Paper
      Uncontrolled Keywords: distribution; functionality.
      Subjects for non-EU documents: EU policies and themes > Policies & related activities > europeanisation/europeanization & European identity
      EU policies and themes > Policies & related activities > political affairs > public opinion
      Subjects for EU documents: UNSPECIFIED
      EU Series and Periodicals: UNSPECIFIED
      EU Annual Reports: UNSPECIFIED
      Series: Series > Institute for Advanced Studies (Vienna), Department of Political Science > IHS Political Science Series
      Depositing User: Elisabet Torggler
      Official EU Document: No
      Language: English
      Date Deposited: 07 May 2003
      Page Range: p. 35
      Last Modified: 15 Feb 2011 17:15
      URI: http://aei.pitt.edu/id/eprint/531

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