Mapping attitudes towards the European Union. A comparative analysis among European citizens of 27 member states

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Master's Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Sociology - Culture, Technology, Nations, grade: 2.0, University of Heidelberg (Institute of Sociology), language: English, abstract: The European Unions growing range of competences increases the degree of required societal support among the member states citizens. This study intends to map national attitudes towards the EU and to deduct their political implications. Therefore, the concepts of i) identification with the EU and ii) support of the EU are combined within a matrix of four ideal types.Individuals are assigned to these four ideal types: the EU-Enthusiasts, the EU-Pragmatics, the sceptical EU-Idealists, and the EU-Opponents/EU-Non-affected. In this master thesis it is claimed that the population share of the two mixed ideal types - mostly neglected in the literature provide essential insight into national attitude towards the EU: sceptical EU-Idealists identify themselves as citizens of the EU but are critical towards its politics; on the other hand, EU-Pragmatics support the EUs politics but do not identify with its institutions or its community.

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