The way in which the citizens of Western Europe are governed is no longer decided on a purely national level. This book is the second in the ‘Beliefs in government’ series, and systematically explores the attitudes of European publics to this internationalization of governance, and examines trends and sources of support for European integration. Are positive attitudes due to hand‐outs from Brussels, or the economic benefits of the single market? What are the roles of class, education, and leadership? Does a European identity and a basic level of intra‐European trust exist? How do problems of s ... More

The way in which the citizens of Western Europe are governed is no longer decided on a purely national level. This book is the second in the ‘Beliefs in government’ series, and systematically explores the attitudes of European publics to this internationalization of governance, and examines trends and sources of support for European integration. Are positive attitudes due to hand‐outs from Brussels, or the economic benefits of the single market? What are the roles of class, education, and leadership? Does a European identity and a basic level of intra‐European trust exist? How do problems of subsidiarity and of democratic deficit affect legitimacy, and how do all of these issues relate to the nation state? As well as these other issues, the book also looks at EU enlargement, EFTA, Central and Eastern Europe, and attitudes to NATO both before and after the events of 1989. The problems are examined from the different perspectives of integration theory, international relations, and comparative politics. A final chapter spells out the implications for the future of European governance.