Economic Integration and Mass Politics: Market Liberalization and Public Attitudes in the European Union

Theory: Theories of how domestic politics influence international economic policy differ fundamentally in their treatment of the mass public. A central issue in this controversy is whether members of the mass public form attitudes about international economics that reflect their economic interests. This article examines this assumption using international economic theory to identify variation in economic interests regarding international economic policy. Hypotheses: Citizens of the European Union (EU) form attitudes toward EU membership-an international economic policy-that are consistent with their occupation-based economic interests. Methods: Individual-level heteroskedastic ordered probit analysis of Eurobarometer survey data and OECD economic statistics from 1975 to 1992. Results: While controlling for a variety of potentially confounding factors, the likelihood of positive evaluations of EU membership is positively related to intraoccupational differences in economic benefits from EU membership.

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