Title page for ETD etd-07082005-180522

Type of Document

Dissertation

Author

Ciftci, Sabri

Author's Email Address

scc7107@garnet.acns.fsu.edu

URN

etd-07082005-180522

Title

Attitudes in Time and Space: The Role of Context in Explaining Support for European Integration

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Political Science, Department of

Advisory Committee

Advisor Name	Title
Dale L. Smith	Committee Chair
Damarys Canache	Committee Member
Lanny W. Martin	Committee Member
Randall G. Holcombe	Committee Member
Thomas M. Carsey	Committee Member

Keywords

Consensus Democracy Corporatism
Public Opinion
European Integration
Hierarchical Linear Model
Support

Date of Defense

2005-06-27

Availability

unrestricted

Abstract

This project investigates the role of the “context” in explaining support for European integration. The main goal of the dissertation is to assess the formative effect of time and space (i.e. context) on individual attitudes.

Firs, the project introduces the meaning and importance of support in the European Union. Next, a theoretical framework, regarding the role of context and its interaction with attitudes, is developed borrowing from research in psychology. Second, a brief history of integration is provided to assess how the evolution of the European project shapes supportive or non-supportive attitudes for integration. A series of multinomial logits are estimated utilizing the data from the standard Eurobarometer surveys between 1974 and 2002. The results provide supportive evidence regarding the temporal changes related to support for integration.

Third, some economic and political characteristics of members of the European Union are used to assess the effects of spatial differences on individual attitudes. This project unfolds the effect of institutional (i.e. corporatism and consensus democracy), economic (i.e. fiscal transfers from/to EU, trade dependency, and macroeconomic performance) and cultural (i.e. religion) differences in understanding support for integration. The results of the hierarchical linear model (HLM) demonstrate that public support is higher in consensus democracies, in the catholic nations as well as in those members receiving financial aid from the EU whereas level of support for integration runs low in corporatist nations.
This research fills a gap, neglected so far, in public opinion research in the EU: the effect of context on individuals’ support for integration. As such, it contributes to our understanding of public opinion in the EU and elsewhere, where time and space play a formative role on individuals’ attitudes and beliefs.

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