This study examines the relationship between educational attainment and euroscepticism from 1973 to 2010. Existing research has shown that, driven by utilitarian considerations, political cues and questions of collective identity, education and euroscepticism are negatively related. However, as the process of European unification has progressed, all three factors have become more salient, so we expect an increasing effect of education on euroscepticism over time. Using 81 waves of the Eurobarometer survey in 12 European Union (EU) member states, our results show that the impact of education on euroscepticism has indeed increased, particularly after the signing of the Maastricht Treaty.
AndersonCJ (1998) When in doubt, use proxies: Attitudes toward domestic politics and support for European integration. Comparative Political Studies31(5): 569–601.
2.
AndersonCJReichertS (1995) Economic benefits and support for membership in the EU: A cross-national analysis. Journal of Public Policy15(3): 231–249.
3.
BaumannZ (1998) Globalization: The Human Consequences, Cambridge: Polity Press.
4.
BonoliG(2006) New social risks and the politics of post-industrial social policies. In: ArmingeonKBonoliG (eds) The Politics of Post-Industrial Welfare States: Adapting Post-War Social Policies to New Social Risks, London: Routledge, pp. 3–26.
5.
BovensMWilleA (2010) The education gap in participation and its political consequences. Acta Politica45(4): 393–422.
6.
BrinegarAPJollySK (2005) Location, location, location: National contextual factors and public support for European integration. European Union Politics6(2): 155–180.
7.
BruterM (2003) Winning hearts and minds for Europe: The impact of news and symbols on civic and cultural identity. Comparative Political Studies36(10): 1148–1179.
8.
CareyS (2002) Undivided loyalties: Is national identity an obstacle to European integration?European Union Politics3(4): 387–413.
9.
ChristinTTrechselAH (2002) Joining the EU?: Explaining public opinion in Switzerland. European Union Politics3(4): 415–443.
10.
CoendersMScheepersP (2003) The effect of education on nationalism and ethnic exclusionism: An international comparison. Political Psychology24(2): 313–343.
11.
De VreeseC (2003) Framing Europe. Television News and European Integration, Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.
12.
De VreeseC (2007) A spiral of euroscepticism: The media’s fault?Acta Politica42(2–3): 271–286.
13.
De VreeseCBoomgaardenH (2005) Projecting EU referendums: Fear of immigration and support for European integration. European Union Politics6(1): 59–82.
14.
De VriesC (2007) Sleeping giant: Fact or fairytale? How European integration affects national elections. European Union Politics8(3): 363–385.
15.
De VriesCEdwardsE (2009) Taking Europe to its extremes: Extremist parties and public Euroscepticism. Party Politics15(1): 5–28.
16.
De WildePZürnM (2012) Can the politicization of European integration be reversed?Journal of Common Market Studies50(S1): 137–153.
17.
EichenbergRDaltonR (1993) Europeans and the European Union: The dynamics of public support for European integration. International Organization47(4): 507–534.
18.
EichenbergRDaltonR (2007) Post-Maastricht blues: The transformation of citizen support for European integration, 1973-2004. Acta Politica42(2-3): 128–152.
19.
EnyediZDeegan-KrauseK (2010) Introduction: The structure of competition in Western Europe. West European Politics33(3): 415–418.
20.
FuchsD(2011) Cultural diversity, European identity and legitimacy of the EU: A theoretical framework. In: FuchsDKlingemannH-D (eds) Cultural Diversity, European Identity and the Legitimacy of the EU, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 27–58.
21.
FuchsDKlingemannH-D (2002) Eastward enlargement and the identity of Europe. West European Politics25(2): 19–54.
22.
GabelM (1998a) Public support for European integration: An empirical test of five theories. Journal of Politics60(2): 333–342.
23.
GabelM (1998b) European integration and mass politics: Market liberalization and public attitudes in the European Union. American Journal of Political Science42(3): 936–953.
24.
GabelMPalmerH (1995) Understanding variation in public support for European integration. European Journal of Political Research27(1): 3–19.
25.
GabelMWhittenG (1997) Economic conditions, economic perceptions, and public support for European integration. Political Behavior19(1): 81–96.
26.
GolderM (2003) Explaining variation in the success of extreme right parties in Western Europe. Comparative Political Studies36(4): 432–466.
27.
HainmuellerJHiscoxM (2006) Learning to love globalization: The effects of education on individual attitudes toward international trade. International Organization60(2): 469–498.
28.
HakhverdianAKoopC (2007) Consensus democracy and support for populist parties in Western Europe. Acta Politica42(4): 401–420.
29.
HakhverdianAVan der BrugWDe VriesC (2012) The emergence of a ‘Diploma Democracy?’ The political education gap in the Netherlands, 1971-2010. Acta Politica47(3): 229–247.
30.
HallerM (2008) European Integration as an Elite Process. The Failure of a Dream?, New York, NY: Routledge.
31.
HayCRosamondB (2002) Globalization, European integration and the discursive construction of economic imperatives. Journal of European Public Policy9(2): 147–167.
32.
HjermM (2010) Education, xenophobia and nationalism: A comparative analysis. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies27(1): 37–60.
33.
HoboltSB (2009) Europe in Question. Referendums on European Integration, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
34.
HoboltSBVan der BrugWDe VreeseC (2011) Religious intolerance and euroscepticism. European Union Politics12(3): 359–379.
35.
HoogheLMarksG (2004) Does identity or economic rationality drive public opinion on European integration?PS-Political Science & Politics37(3): 415–420.
36.
HoogheLMarksG (2005) Calculation, community, and cues: Public opinion on European integration. European Union Politics6(4): 419–443.
37.
HoogheLMarksG (2009) A postfunctionalist theory of European integration: From permissive consensus to constraining dissensus. British Journal of Political Science39(1): 1–23.
38.
InglehartR (1970) Cognitive mobilization and European identity. Comparative Politics3(1): 45–70.
39.
Ivarsflaten E and Stubager R (2011) Voting for the populist radical right in Western Europe: the role of education. In: Paper presented at ECPR General Conference, Reykjavik, 2011.
40.
KeatingA (2009) Educating Europe’s citizens: Moving from national to post-national models of educating for European citizenship. Citizenship Studies13(2): 135–151.
41.
KoehnPRosenauJ (2002) Transnational competence in an emergent epoch. International Studies Perspectives3: 105–127.
42.
KriesiHPGrandeELachatR (2008) West European Politics in the Age of Globalisation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
43.
KriesiHPGrandeELachatR (2012) Political Conflict in Western Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
44.
KoopmansRStathamP (2010) The Making of a European Public Sphere: Media Discourse and Political Contention, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
45.
KuhnT (2011) Individual transnationalism, globalisation and euroscepticism: An empirical test of Deutsch's transactionalist theory. European Journal of Political Research50(6): 811–837.
46.
LaffanB (1996) The politics of identity and political order in Europe. Journal of Common Market Studies34(1): 81–102.
47.
Loveless M and Rohrschneider R (2008) Public perceptions of the EU as a system of governance. Living Reviews in European Governance 3(1) [online article]. Available at: http://europeangovernance.livingreviews.org/Articles/lreg-2008-1/ (accessed 16 April 2003).
48.
LubbersMJaspersE (2011) A longitudinal study of euroscepticism in the Netherlands: 2008 versus 1990. European Union Politics12(1): 21–40.
49.
LubbersMScheepersP (2005) Political versus instrumental euro-scepticism. European Union Politics6(2): 223–242.
50.
LubbersMScheepersP (2007) Explanations of political euro-scepticism at the individual, regional and national levels. European Societies9(4): 643–669.
51.
LubbersMScheepersP (2010) Divergent trends of euroscepticism in countries and regions of the European Union. European Journal of Political Research49(6): 787–817.
52.
MaierJRittbergerB (2008) Shifting Europe's boundaries: Mass media, public opinion and the enlargement of the EU. European Union Politics9(2): 243–267.
53.
MargalitY (2012) Lost in globalization: International economic integration and the sources of popular discontent. International Studies Quarterly56(3): 484–500.
54.
MarksGSteenbergenMR (2004) European Integration and Political Conflict, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
55.
McLarenL (2002) Public support for the European Union: Cost/benefit analysis or perceived cultural threat. Journal of Politics64(2): 551–566.
56.
MuddeC (2007) Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
57.
NorrisP(2000) Global governance and cosmopolitan citizens. In: NyeJDonahueJD (eds) Governance in a Global World, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, pp. 155–177.
58.
NorrisP (2005) Radical Right: Voters and Parties in the Electoral Market, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
59.
RayL (2003) When parties matter: The conditional influence of party positions on voter opinions about European integration. Journal of Politics65(4): 978–994.
60.
RohrschneiderR (2002) The democratic deficit and mass support for an EU-wide government. American Journal of Political Science46(2): 463–475.
SchisslerHSoysalY (2005) The Nation, Europe, and the Wold: Textbooks and Curricula in Transition, New York, NY: Berghahn Books.
63.
Schmitt H, Scholz E, Leim I and Moschner M (2008) The Mannheim Eurobarometer Trend File 1970–2002 (ed. 2.00). Europöische Kommission [Primörforscher]. GESIS Datenarchiv, Köln. ZA3521 Datenfile Version 2.0.1. doi:10.4232/1.10074. Available at: http://info1.gesis.org/dbksearch/SDESC2_eng.asp?no=3521&search=3521&search2=&DB=D.
64.
SchneiderS (2008) Anti-immigrant attitudes in Europe: Outgroup size and perceived ethnic threat. European Sociological Review24(1): 53–67.
65.
SchuckADe VreeseC (2006) Between risk and opportunity: News framing and its effects on public support for EU enlargement. European Journal of Communication21(1): 5–32.
66.
SteenbergenMEdwardsEDe VriesCE (2007) Who’s cueing whom? Mass-elite linkages and the future of European integration. European Union Politics8(1): 13–35.
67.
StolleDHoogheM (2011) Shifting inequalities: Patterns of exclusion and inclusion in emerging forms of political participation. European Societies13(1): 119–242.
68.
StubagerR (2008) Education effects on authoritarian–libertarian values: A question of socialization. British Journal of Sociology59(2): 327–350.
69.
StubagerR (2010) The development of the education cleavage: Denmark as a critical case. West European Politics33(3): 505–533.
70.
Van der BrugWVan der EijkC (2007) European Elections and Domestic Politics, Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
71.
Van der EijkCFranklinM (1996) Choosing Europe? The European Electorate and National Politics in the Face of the Union, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
72.
Van de WerfhorstHDe GraafND (2004) The sources of political orientations in post-industrial society: Social class and education revisited. British Journal of Sociology55(2): 211–235.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
