Slovak public and European integration: auditing the first decade

The study aims to summarize the development of Slovak public perception of the EU and EU integration during the first decade of membership. It observes the trends and identifies the external factors which caused the variations. The study also focuses on voting behavior in three European Parliament e...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International issues & Slovak foreign policy affairs 2014-01, Vol.23 (1-2), p.71-89
Main Author: Gyarfasova, Olga
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accession
Attitudes
Auditing
Discourse
Elections
EU membership
European elections
European Parliament
European Union
Factor analysis
Membership
Opinion
Political Integration
Politics
Public Opinion
Slovak Republic
Slovakia
Utilitarianism
Voter behavior
Voter Turnout
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The study aims to summarize the development of Slovak public perception of the EU and EU integration during the first decade of membership. It observes the trends and identifies the external factors which caused the variations. The study also focuses on voting behavior in three European Parliament elections. Moreover, it examines the reasons for the high levels of abstention in these elections and analyzes the unusual combination of positive sentiments towards the EU and very low turnout in the EP elections, which has been labeled the “Slovak paradox.” The paper investigates political and public discourse on EU policy, revealing that in spite of ten years of EU membership the discourse is still quite shallow and that the European agenda does not determine the political contest, not even in the EP elections. Furthermore, the utilitarian framing of the debate strengthens the image of the EU as a “full fridge” rather than as a space for active participation and a value based community. The study utilizes dozens of public opinion surveys to illustrate the trends in public and political EU perception.
ISSN:1337-5482
1336-0361