Document Type
Article
Abstract
The confidence that Informed Citizenry and their Economic Elites have in the European Union were assessed. Survey data, from the 2009 Eurobarometer 72.4 with a sample size of 8,499 citizens, from 27 European nations, were supplemented with interviews with two professionals knowledgeable about EU politics and content analyses of current events, such as the EU debt crisis, the rise in terrorist attacks, the British Referendum, and the immigration crisis. Although both citizens and elites were confident about the EU’s future, voices of informed citizenry shaped the confidence in the EU more than economic elites. These findings substantiated the Systemic Coupling theoretical model more than the Power Elite model and contributed to the empirical literature on citizens’ trust in the EU and transnational political systems. Additional cross-temporal examination of citizens’ confidence in the EU and the roles of new media are warranted.
Recommended Citation
Frydenberg, Jessica R.
(2017)
"Political Elites or Average Citizens? Perspectives on the Political Legitimacy and Future of the European Union,"
Gettysburg Social Sciences Review: Vol. 1:
Iss.
1, Article 5.
Available at:
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/gssr/vol1/iss1/5
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