The European Union: Cross-National Variation in Public Support, 1993 :: European History Essays

The European Union Cross-National Variation in human race Support, 1993 IntroductionThe European Union was established in 1951 with the adoption of the European Coal and stain Community. Many of its early endogenetic policies were technical in nature and true little attention from the general public. Consequently, a permissive consensus developed allowing the elect to pursue the ideals established by the European Union (EU) (Eichenberg and Dalton 1993, Gabel and Palmer 1995, Gabel 1998). In time, integrative policies became more and more aggressive in their scope and influence. With the adoption of the Single European Act in 1985 and the Maastricht Treaty in 1991, the EU began dealing forcefully with issues pertaining to monetary union, social policy, foreign policy, and constitutional reform. Public opinion became increasingly important as guinea pig governments began formulating policies based on decisions in Brussels, Strasbourg, and capital of Luxembourg that affected dome stic policies (Gabel 1998, Anderson and Kaltenthaler 1996, Anderson and Reichert 1996, Gabel and Palmer 1995, Eichenberg and Dalton 1993).European integration was still prominently driven and advanced by the elite, but it could no longer progress without the concord of the mass public (Eichenberg and Dalton 1993). In Ireland, France, and Denmark, national public referenda required the verification of the Maastricht Treaty. Ultimately public protests in France and Denmark on the Maastricht Treaty delayed and modified the institutional reform of the EU. In 1994, Norway voted in a national referendum to excrete the EU altogether despite being granted admission. In 1995 parties in Sweden campaigning specifically against European integration recognized significant gains.Public opinion clearly influences policymaking in the EU. Furthermore, the literature illustrates that there is measurable cross-national transition in public support for the EU. It is necessary to understand what contributes to these differences in state to facilitate continuing integration. This paper expands on the existing literature explaining cross-national variances in support by examining economic rationality and political culture explanations. economic Rationality For most of its history, the EU has existed purely as an economic block. sparing rationality posits that citizens seek to influence public policy by right to vote according to their economic interests regarding international economic policy (Katzenstein 1998). A large amount of existing literature suggests that economic rationality explanations are well-knit predictors of a countrys level of support for the EU. Specifically, the literature has tended to fancy macro- and micro-economic, and direct and indirect economic explanations.Macroeconomic explanations focus on the national economic indicators of member states.