A Comparative Case Study on Variations in Citizens' Relationship to the European Union.: To what extent are there variations in the citizens’ relationship to the European Union between federations and unitary Member States?
Translated title
A Comparative Case Study on Variations in Citizens' Relationship to the European Union.
Author
Sørensen, Bolette Halkjær Skov
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2021
Submitted on
2021-06-30
Pages
70
Abstract
Specialet undersøger, om borgere i forbundsstater forholder sig anderledes til EU end borgere i enhedsstater. Udgangspunktet er, at mennesker, der er vant til styring på flere niveauer (for eksempel i en forbundsstat, hvor magten deles mellem nationalt og regionalt niveau), lettere kan engagere sig i EU’s politik som endnu et niveau. I en enhedsstat er magten mere centraliseret. For at teste dette anvendes et mixed methods-design over tid. Undersøgelsen sammenligner EU’s tre forbundsstater — Østrig, Belgien og Tyskland — med tre matchede enhedsstater — Sverige, Nederlandene og Frankrig. Parrene er Østrig–Sverige, Belgien–Nederlandene og Tyskland–Frankrig, matchet på længde af EU-medlemskab og befolkningstal. Borgernes forhold til EU belyses gennem tre elementer: valgdeltagelse ved Europa-Parlamentsvalg; tilknytning og identitet; samt støtte til EU. Valgdata kommer fra IDEA. Holdningsdata kommer fra Eurobarometer. Et ekspertinterview supplerer kilderne. Resultaterne viser et mønster, om end ikke et generelt: Forbundsstater har ofte højere valgdeltagelse ved EP-valg end deres matchede enhedsstater. Forskellen mellem EP- og nationale valgdeltagelser er ofte mindre i forbundsstater, men ikke altid; bemærkelsesværdigt har Frankrig den mindste forskel blandt de undersøgte lande. Forbundsstater ligger ikke øverst på den samlede valgdeltagelse. For tilknytning, identitet og støtte er resultaterne blandede. I spørgsmål om civisk identifikation (tilhørsforhold baseret på et fælles politisk fællesskab) er niveauet højere i forbundsstater end i enhedsstater blandt EU’s oprindelige medlemslande. For de fleste andre mål er der ingen tydelige forskelle mellem forbunds- og enhedsstater. Alternative forklaringer inddrages. Konklusionen peger på behov for mere forskning i, hvordan decentralisering fungerer i medlemsstaterne, for at inddrage flere lande, og for at medtage faktorer som tillid til EU’s institutioner i analyser af borgernes forhold til EU.
This thesis examines whether citizens in federal states relate to the European Union differently than citizens in unitary states. The starting point is that people used to several layers of government (for example, in a federation where power is shared between national and regional levels) may find it easier to engage with EU politics as one more layer. In a unitary state, power is more centralized. To test this, the study uses a mixed-methods, over-time comparative case design. It compares the EU’s three federal member states—Austria, Belgium, and Germany—with three matched unitary states—Sweden, the Netherlands, and France. The pairs are Austria–Sweden, Belgium–Netherlands, and Germany–France, matched by length of EU membership and population. Citizens’ relationship to the EU is examined through three elements: turnout in European Parliament elections; feelings of attachment and identity; and support for the EU. Turnout data come from IDEA. Public opinion data come from the Eurobarometer. An expert interview complements these sources. Findings show a pattern, though not a universal one, of higher European Parliament turnout in the federations than in their matched unitary partners. The gap between European and national election turnout is often smaller in federations, but not always; notably, France has the smallest gap among the countries studied. Federations do not lead on overall turnout levels. For attachment, identity, and support, results are mixed. On questions about civic identification (a sense of belonging based on a shared political community), federations show higher levels than unitary states among the EU’s founding member states. For most other measures, there are no clear differences between federations and unitary states. Alternative explanations are considered. The conclusion calls for more research on how decentralization works in different member states, adding more country cases, and including factors such as trust in EU institutions when studying how citizens relate to the EU.
[This summary has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]
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