Information effects and mass support for EU policy control

Abstract

Democracy requires an active and informed citizenry. Citizen engagement is all the more critical in complex environments such as the European Union (EU). This article examines how having an informed public matters for support for European-level policy competencies. Is public skepticism of EU authority shaped by a lack of knowledge, or are attitudes about policy jurisdiction in Europe’s multilevel system unbiased by information? Our analysis of collective opinion in 27 issue areas reveals that, in nearly every case, a paucity of knowledge about the EU reduces popular support for European policy control. Further analyses show that possessing knowledge of Europe’s institutions affects support for EU authority in areas involving cross-border political issues. In contrast, we find no consistent biasing effect on opinions about control over economic issues.

Knowing is not loving: media effects on knowledge about and attitudes toward the EU

“…However, Karp and colleagues relied on basic knowledge facts about the European Union, asking, for example, whether subjects were able to identify the current president of the EU Commission. Hence, their assessment of knowledge is less related to performance evaluations, and can be better understood as a proxy of citizens' overall knowledge about the Union and its institutions (see also Clark and Hellwig 2012). In addition, while analysing valuable data from a cross-national survey, the authors could not provide evidence of causal influences by assessing panel effects over time.…”

Political Knowledge and Attitudes Toward (De)Centralization in Europe

“…We are These results are of great importance for two main reasons. Firstly, in the contemporary economic literature the role of information in shaping policy preferences is receiving increasing attention for explaining policy choices (see Boeri and Tabellini, 2012;Clark and Hellwing, 2012 and the references therein). In this regard, our findings suggest that wellinformed citizens are better able to assess the consequences of alternative policy proposals.…”

Odnos prema nacionalnoj politici i odluka o pristupanju EU na referendumu 2012. godine

“…Konačno, informacijski činitelji poput utjecaja medijskih poruka, informacija koje signalizira pozicija političkih elita i politička informiranost također utječu na odnos prema europskim integracijama (Anderson, 1998;Clark i Hellwig, 2012;De Vreese i Boomgarden, 2006;Ray, 2003;Rorschneider, 2002;Stoeckel, 2013). Izloženost medijima i viša razina političke sofisticiranosti u većini je studija pokazala pozitivan utjecaj na odnos prema europskim integracijama.…”