Determinants of Public Opinion Support for a Full Embargo on Russian Energy in Germany

Bruno Castanho Silva (), Jens Wäckerle and Christopher Wratil
Additional contact information
Bruno Castanho Silva: Cologne Center for Comparative Politics, University of Cologne
Jens Wäckerle: University of Cologne
Christopher Wratil: University of Vienna

No 170, ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series from University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany

Abstract: Western powers have discussed and implemented several policies in response to the full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. One such possible answer was an immediate embargo on all Russian energy exports to the EU. While seen as a strong measure against Russia's war effort, some EU governments were unenthusiastic, due to potential negative economic impacts on the short run, by pressuring prices for consumers and fueling inflation. Public opinion also seemed divided on the matter. We use a framing survey experiment in Germany (n = 3,251) to test what factors influence support for an immediate embargo against Russian energy. Results indicate that out of seven possible frames tested, the only one that has an effect on embargo support is whether the rest of the German public is in favor or not. Results are in line with contemporary models of public opinion formation and legitimacy, and shed light on the conditions that may help framing other potentially costly issues to garner public support, such as measures to tackle climate change.

Keywords: public opinion; survey experiment; Russian energy embargo; foreign policy; Ukraine war (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 20 pages
Date: 2022-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-cis, nep-ene and nep-tra
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.econtribute.de/RePEc/ajk/ajkdps/ECONtribute_170_2022.pdf First version, 2022 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:170

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series from University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany Niebuhrstrasse 5, 53113 Bonn, Germany.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ECONtribute Office ().