File(s) not publicly available
Issue salience and the domestic legitimacy demands of European integration. The cases of Britain and Germany
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 15:58 authored by Kai Oppermann, Henrike ViehrigThe salience of European issues to the general public is a major determinant of the domestic legitimacy demands that governments face when they devise their European policies. The higher the salience of these issues, the more restrictive will be the legitimacy demands that governments have to meet on the domestic level. Whereas the domestic legitimacy of European policy can rest on a permissive consensus among the public in cases of low issue salience, it requires the electorate’s explicit endorsement in cases of high issue salience. Polling data from Britain and Germany show that the salience of European issues is clearly higher in Britain than in Germany. We thus conclude that British governments face tougher domestic legitimacy demands when formulating their European policies than German governments. This may contribute to accounting for both countries’ different approaches to the integration process: Germany as a role model of a pro-integrationist member state and, in contrast, Britain as the eternal "awkward partner".
History
Publication status
- Published
Journal
European Integration online PapersISSN
1027-5193Publisher
ECSA AustriaIssue
2Volume
12Department affiliated with
- Politics Publications
Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2013-10-03Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC