Swaying citizen support for EU membership: Evidence from a survey experiment of German voters

Nikoleta Yordanova, Mariyana Angelova, Roni Lehrer, Moritz Osnabrügge and Sander Renes
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Nikoleta Yordanova: Institute of Political Science, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
Mariyana Angelova: Department of Government, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Roni Lehrer: Mannheim Centre for European Social Research, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
Moritz Osnabrügge: Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK

European Union Politics, 2020, vol. 21, issue 3, 429-450

Abstract: The United Kingdom’s 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum vote to leave the European Union (EU) raised concerns that other countries would follow suit. This article examines how arguments about EU membership related to economic, cultural, political, and security and peace issues could influence how citizens would vote in EU membership referendums. Our two-wave survey experiment on a random sample of the German population and difference-in-differences analysis revealed that only fears of being outvoted in EU decision-making swayed German voters’ attitudes about EU membership, particularly voters with weaker EU support, little EU knowledge and low levels of political engagement. We therefore conclude that concerns about sovereignty loss can be drivers of Euroscepticism even in a country that has vast influence over EU decisions.

Keywords: Dexit; European Union; framing; sovereignty loss; survey experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:21:y:2020:i:3:p:429-450

DOI: 10.1177/1465116520923735

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