In this article, we argue that the size and cultural proximity of immigrant populations in people's residential surroundings shape national and European identities. This means that the type of migrant population activates cultural threat perceptions and opportunities for contact to varying degrees. Geocoded survey data from the Netherlands suggests that large non-Western immigrant shares are associated with more exclusive national identities, while mixed contexts with Western and non-Western populations show more inclusive identities. These results suggest that highly diverse areas with mixed immigrant populations hold a potential for more tolerance. In contrast, exclusive national identities become strongly pronounced under the presence of sizeable culturally distant immigrant groups.

Although research has questioned the stability of identities, we know little about identity change. I examine a political event as a driver of identity change, namely the Brexit vote. I contend that the act of voting, choosing between two options, boosts the European and British identity underlying the vote choice. I test whether the increased identification with Europe or Britain comes with a reduction in the other identity. Using British Election Study panel data in a two-way fixed-effects design, I show that voting to remain increases identification with Europe but voting to leave does not increase British identification for Leavers. However, voting has no impact on how Remainers identify with Britain or Leavers identify with Europe. The results contribute to the growing literature on the link between politics and identities.

Noncompliance and differentiated integration are two strategies to cope with heterogeneity between European Union member states. This article explores the relationship between the two strategies of coping with heterogeneity. We start from the observation that research has linked cross-country variation in differentiated integration and noncompliance to similar root causes—diverging preferences and differential capacity. Addressing the same issues of heterogeneity, we hypothesize that differentiated integration is likely to reduce member states’ noncompliance. In order to test this hypothesis, we combine novel data on differentiated integration and noncompliance. We find that differentiation increases rather than reduces the likelihood of noncompliance. We conclude by discussing why differentiated integration does not serve as a strategy to prevent noncompliance.

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After citizens reject government backed proposals in a referendum, scholars and the media tend to claim that the outcome produces a shock that is then followed by a high information environment. Scholarly accounts suggest that people should increase their knowledge, as information is more easily accessible and the saliency of the event serves as a motivating factor. However, do these shocks motivate citizens to actually increase their political knowledge? This paper answers this question by examining how the French defeat of the EU constitution in a referendum impacted citizens' knowledge about the Constitution. Using Eurobarometer data on the knowledge quiz about the European Constitution, I employ a local RDD design to test the impact of the referendum shock. The analysis shows - against scholarly and popular claims - that the outcome does not bring about a gain in knowledge, despite increased attention to the topic. The findings contribute to the scientific and public understanding of how people are impacted by election outcomes and how people update their knowledge.