Attitudes Towards Europe Beyond Euroscepticism

The book addresses the topic of EU legitimacy by exploring the forms, origins and effects of citizens' support to EU institutions. Through examining the wide-ranging levels of support, the authors show how these multi-faceted attitudes cast shade on the outdated, somewhat one-dimensional concept of Euroscepticism. Di Mauro and Memoli not only observe how political issues and the economic crisis affect public opinion, but also demonstrate how national contexts play a crucial role in shaping attitudes towards Europe at any level of support. This volume shows how the lack of accountability in the EU system makes it increasingly vulnerable to the negative effects of economic and societal shocks, and the 'national lens' that we view the EU through influences our voting choices.

Advances the theoretical, empirical and methodological knowledge about attitudes towards Europe Contributes to the debate of citizenship and legitimacy of EU institutions, stimulating dialogue and opening new roads of inquiry in under investigated topics Speaks to scholars, experts, students and stakeholders by summarizing the present understanding of this phenomenon and covering new spheres

Autorentext
Danilo Di Mauro is post-doc fellow at the University Unitelma Sapienza in Rome, Italy, and Research Assistant at the European University Institute (EUI) where he was Marie Curie Research Fellow.

Vincenzo Memoli is Assistant Professor at the University of Catania, Italy. His main research interests include democracy, public attitudes and public opinion.

Inhalt
Introduction.- 1. Beyond Euroscepticism: A multidimensional perspective.- 2. Sources of opposition towards Europe: issue saliency and specific support.- 3. The impact of "external" shocks on attitudes towards Europe: the current economic crisis.- Conclusion