Unequal perspectives? Income inequality as a benchmark for support for European integration

Bjarn Eck and Sven Schreurs
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Bjarn Eck: CEVIPOL, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
Sven Schreurs: Department of Political and Social Sciences, 10185European University Institute, San Domenico di Fiesole, Italy

European Union Politics, 2024, vol. 25, issue 2, 245-268

Abstract: Despite growing attention to income inequality in debates about European integration, our understanding of its effect on European Union support remains limited. Using European Social Survey data from 2002 to 2020, we analyse how income inequality and pro-redistribution attitudes shape diffuse and specific forms of support for the European Union. We find no direct effect of country-level income inequality, while individual support for redistribution has a negative effect on both. In line with benchmarking theory, inequality emerges as a contextual moderator: in unequal national settings, egalitarian citizens are comparatively more supportive of further integration than in more equal countries. This effect persists when we control for income position, suggesting an ideological rather than utilitarian basis for benchmarking European Union attitudes. We discuss implications in light of debates about a social Europe.

Keywords: Egalitarianism; EU support; income; inequality; public opinion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:25:y:2024:i:2:p:245-268

DOI: 10.1177/14651165231226054

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