Interests and Integration: Market Liberalization, Public Opinion, and European Union

Integration in Europe has been a slow incremental process focusing largely on economic matters. Policymakers have tried to develop greater support for the European Union by such steps as creating pan-European political institutions - and yet significant opposition remains to policies such as the creation of a single currency. Gabel argues that differences in attitudes toward integration are grounded in the different perceptions of how economic integration will impact individual economic welfare and how perceptions of economic welfare influence political attitudes. Basing his argument on David Easton's idea that where affective support for institutions is low, citizens will base their support for institutions on their utilitarian appraisal of how well the institutions work for them. Gabel contends that in the European Union, citizens' appraisal of the impact of the Union on their individual welfare is crucial because their affective support is quite low. This timely book will be of interest to scholars studying European integration as well as scholars interested in the impact of public opinion on economic policy-making.