Euroscepticism and education: A longitudinal study of 12 EU member states, 1973–2010

Abstract

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.

Euroskepticism, Income Inequality and Financial Expectations

“…There is evidence that European economic and political integration is one important driver of an increase in income inequality (Beckfield 2006(Beckfield , 2009 and that the increase in income inequality is negatively associated with public support for EU integration (Burgoon 2013;Kuhn et al 2014). Recent findings furthermore indicate that individuals with lower levels of education are particularly sensitive to income inequality with regard to Euroskeptic attitudes (Kuhn et al 2014) and that the positive impact of low education on Euroskepticism has even increased in the last decades (Hakhverdian et al 2013). Figure 1 shows that Euroskepticism has increased considerably from 2006 to 2011.…”

Political Representation and Educational Attainment: Evidence from the Netherlands (1994–2010)

“…Lubbers and Scheepers (2010) and Hakhverdian et al (2013) found that the least educated exhibited higher levels of Euroscepticism than the more highly educated and that this difference increased over the years. Furthermore, Ronald Inglehart (1990) found that higher educated citizens are more post-materialistic (although he argues that the underlying cause for this association is material well-being), while David Weakliem (2002) shows that educational level anchors liberal and individualistic values.…”

“…It has been shown that the least educated participate less in politics and have different ideological preferences with regard to certain policy issues than the more highly educated (e.g. Bovens and Wille, 2011;Hakhverdian et al, 2013;Lubbers and Scheepers, 2010;Van der Werfhorst and De Graaf, 2004;Weakliem, 2002). In their 2011 study of the Dutch context Mark Bovens and Anchrit Wille show that the least educated have almost disappeared from political office-holding in the Netherlands; that is, the lowest educated are descriptively underrepresented (Bovens and Wille, 2011: 64-85).…”

Opportunity or threat? Public attitudes towards EU freedom of movement

“…Whereas economic liberalisation provides more opportunities to highly-skilled and highly-educated individuals, it increases insecurity among citizens with low levels of human capital. Well-educated and highly-skilled citizens have the cognitive, professional and behavioural skills to successfully compete in changing environments, and are thus more likely to embrace change and mobility (Hakhverdian et al 2013;Inglehart 1970). Relatedly, political economy approaches to immigration attitudes suggest that a native personÕs occupation and education influence how they view immigration.…”