A large academic literature exists that identifies structural, individual and polity-level correlates of opposition to Enlargement, the most important of these being socio-economic status, attachment to national identity, perceived economic threats and political cues. Some recent studies, however, have shown that identity effects can be muted when expectations of economic support are mobilized at the same time. Therefore, the ways in which citizens’ arguments, responses and perceptions are combined in different discourses represent more than the sum of their attitudes and can reveal possible ways to proceed with Enlargement in the future. The MAXCAP Policy Brief No. 3 “What Do Citizens’ Opinions and Perceptions Mean for EU Enlargement?” aims to address the problems of 1) understanding the structure of citizen attitudes and evaluations of EU enlargement and 2) finding possible ways to influence these attitudes and evaluations. The brief is available for download here.
Source: MAXCAP
