Support for the euro, political knowledge, and voting behavior in the 2001 and 2005 UK general elections

Abstract

This article examines the effect of political knowledge on support for the euro and voting on the euro issue in the 2001 and 2005 UK general elections. Political knowledge increased support for the euro in 2001 but had no effect in 2005 and it conditioned the effect of the euro issue on vote choice in both elections. The effect of the euro issue on voting was stronger among knowledgeable voters, who were more likely to vote correctly on the issue by choosing a party closest to their own views on the euro. These findings demonstrate heterogeneity in voting on the euro issue in these elections and should motivate further inquiry into the role that political knowledge plays in conditioning voting behavior on European issues.

Leave and Remain voters’ knowledge of the EU after the referendum of 2016

“…positively associated with support for joining the single currency (Gabel & Hix, 2005; but see Tillman, 2012). Second, Remain voters score higher than Leave voters on both education level and reasoning ability--two variables which are among the most reliable predictors of political knowledge (Hobolt, 2016;Online Privacy Foundation, 2017;present study).…”

“…This finding suggests that Leave voters and Remain voters might be similarly ill-informed about the EU, contrary to the widespread presumption that Leave voters were less well informed (Rooney, 2016;Holehouse, 2016;Fox, 2018). On the other hand, Gabel and Hix (2005) observed that political knowledge was positively associated with support for joining the single currency (but see Tillman, 2012). Moreover, the Online Privacy Foundation (2017) surveyed 11,205 British people online, and found that Leave voters scored lower than Remain voters on both numeracy and logical reasoning.…”

Ambivalent Europeans? Public Support for European Integration in East and West

“…Summing up, European integration remains one of the most complex political issues that European mass publics face, so understanding ambivalence is of crucial scientific and societal importance. The extent of ambivalence among Europeans is not only increasingly relevant for understanding the nature of public opinion towards European integration, but also informs ongoing work on the behaviour in national and European elections or EU referendums as well as the success of extreme right- or left-wing parties in rallying Eurosceptic sentiment (see, for example, Hobolt 2009; Hobolt et al 2009; Tillman 2004, 2012; de Vries 2007; de Vries and Edwards 2009). Although it should no longer come as a surprise that citizens are conflicted about the scope and depth of integration, we also need to understand the determinants of differences in response variability between individuals and countries.…”

“…This shift in the power balance between national governments and supranational institutions has not gone unnoticed by the public, especially not during the current crisis. At present, we are witnessing increased public contention over European matters in election and referendum campaigns, as well as party and media discourse (van der Eijk and Franklin 2004; Hobolt 2009; Hooghe et al 2002; Kriesi et al 2006, 2008; Steenbergen et al 2007; Tillman 2004, 2012; de Vreese 2003; de Vries 2007; de Vries and Edwards 2009, to name a few). Questions are being raised about where the train of European integration is heading, who is in the driver's seat, and if member states are getting a return on investment.…”

Explaining Political Knowledge: The Role of Procedural Quality in an Informed Citizenry

“…For example, the CSES, which pools crosscountry survey data, did not offer factual knowledge questions until relatively recently. One approach to overcoming this hurdle is to rely on factual questions about the European Union (EU) from the Eurobarometer and European Election Study, both of which use the same format and type of question in each EU member state (Clark and Hellwig, 2012;de Vries et al, 2011;Karp et al, 2003;Tillman, 2012). This research has focused on explaining the effects of political knowledge on voting behavior (Arnold, 2012;de Vries et al, 2011;Hobolt, 2007) and public opinion (Anderson, 1998;Clark and Hellwig, 2012;Elenbaas et al, 2012;Karp et al, 2003;Tillman, 2012), providing few clues as to the macro-level conditions that affect the public's understanding of politics.…”