Determinants of public opinion differences on EU accession in Poland

Europe - Asia Studies

Volumn 54, Issue 8, 2002, Pages 1241-1266

  Bielasiak, Jack ^a  

^a INDIANA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ATTITUDINAL SURVEY; EUROPEAN UNION; PUBLIC ATTITUDE; REGIONALIZATION;

CENTRAL EUROPE; EURASIA; EUROPE; POLAND;

EID: 1642370253     PISSN: 09668136     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/0966813022000025871     Document Type: Review

References (70)

1. Bogdan W. Mach, 'Histotyczne nadzieje i przyziemne problemy: Dylematy Polskiego uczestnictwa w Unii Europejskiej', in Polacy wobec integracji Polski z Unia̧ Eurapejskq (Warsaw, Centrum Stosunków Miȩ dzynarodowych, 1998), pp. 10-31.
2. Jacques Rupnik, 'Eastern Europe: The International Context', Journal of Democracy, 11, 2, April 2000. pp. 115-129.
3. Christopher J. Anderson & Yuliya V. Tverdova, 'Merging East and West: How East Europeans Form Opinions About Economic Integration into the European Union', paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC, 30 August-3 September 2000.
4. George Kolankiewicz, 'Consensus and Competition in the Eastern Enlargement of the European Union', International Affairs, 70, 3, July 1994, pp. 477-495;
5. George Blazyca & Marek Kolkiewicz, 'Poland and the EU: Internal Disputes, Domestic Politics and Accession', Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, 15, 4, December 1999, pp. 131-143.
6. Elzbieta Skotnicka-Illasiewicz, 'Czlonkostwo w Unii Europejskiej w badaniach opinii spotecznej', in Polacy wobec integracj i Polski z Uniq Europejsk a̧, pp. 32-47;
7. Anderson & Tverdova. 'Merging East and West';
8. Rachel A. Cichowski, 'Western Dreams, Eastern Realities: Support for the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe', Comparative Political Studies, 33, 10, December 2000, pp. 1243-1278;
9. and Aleks Szczerbiak, 'Polish Public Opinion: Explaining Declining Support for EU Membership'. Journal of Common Market Studies, 39, 1, March 2001, pp. 105-122.
10. Christopher J. Anderson & Karl Kaltenhaler, 'The Dynamics of Public Opinion Toward European Integration, 1973-1993', European Journal of International Relations, 2, 2, 1996, pp. 175-199;
11. Christopher J. Anderson, 'When in Doubt, Use Proxies: Attitudes Toward Domestic Politics and Support for European Integration', Comparative Political Studies, 31, 5, October 1998, pp. 569-601;
12. Matthew Gabel, Interests and Integration: Market Liberalization, Public Opinion, and European Union (Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 1998);
13. and Matthew Gabel, 'Public Support for European Integration: An Empirical Test of Five Theories', Journal of Politics, 60, 2, May 1998, pp. 333-354.
14. Cichowski, 'Western Dreams, Eastern Realities';
15. and Anderson & Tverdova, 'Merging East and West'.
16. See the regular surveys conducted by Centrum Badania Opinii Spotecznej (CBOS), as reported in the monthly Serwis Informacyjny.
17. The present study relies on aggregate trends over time, since I lack access to the individual-base d data sets from which the results are derived; this of course prevents statistical tests of the data. Instead trends and significance patterns over time are analysed. Yet in combination with the theoretical findings of previous studies such an approach offers considerable information on the formation of public opinion on the accession question.
18. Mira Marody, 'Three Polands : Strategies of Social Behavior', Polish Sociological Review, 2000, 1, pp. 1-16.
19. The sample for each survey is nationall y representative, and numbers over 1,000 respondent s each time, using the same selection methods. The advantage of using the CBOS data lies in their consistenc y over time, so that identical questions are posed year after year, avoiding the pitfall of different wording and survey instruments. The validity of the CBOS findings is confirmed by comparison with surveys carried out by other institutions in Poland, such as OBOP (Ośrodek Badania Opinii Publicznej), which show essentially the same patterns and results.
20. This is best determined by the questio n that asks: 'If a referendum was held in Poland concernin g the accession of Poland to the European Union, would you vote (1) for Poland's accession to the Union, (2) against Poland's accession to the Union, (3) difficult to say?'.
21. Marek Belka, Jerzy Hausner, Leszek J. Jasinski, Mira Marody & Marek Zirk-Sadowski, Polska transformacja w perspektiwie integracj i Europejskie j (Warsaw; Friedrich Ebert-Stiftung, 1996);
22. and Krzysztof Zagórski, 'Polish Public Opinion About Accession to the European Union and its Determinants', report for Centrum Badania Opinii Spotecznej, May 2001, pp. 1-9.
23. Richard Rose & Christian Haerpfer, 'Democracy and Enlarging the European Union Eastwards ', Journal, of Common Market Studies, 33, 3, September 1995, pp. 427-450.
24. Michael Lewis-Beck, Economics and Elections: The Major Democracies (Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 1988).
25. See Cichowski, 'Western Dreams, Eastern Realities';
26. and Jan Fidrmuc, 'Economics of Voting in Post-Communist Countries', Electoral Studies, 19, 2-3, June-September 2000, pp. 199-217.
27. Christopher J. Anderson & M.Shawn Reichert, 'Economic Benefits and Support for Membership in the European Union: A Cross-National Analysis', Journal of Public Policy, 15, 3, September 1995, pp. 231-249;
28. and Matthew Gabel & Guy D. Whitten, 'Economic Conditions, Economic Perceptions, and Public Support for European Integration ', Political Behavior, 19, 1, March 1997, pp. 81-96.
29. Anderson & Tverdova, 'Merging East and West', p. 14.
30. Anderson & Tverdova, 'Merging East and West', Ibid, p. 16.
31. Cichowski. 'Western Dreams, Eastern Realities'.
32. Ronald Inglehart, The Silent Revolution : Changing Values and Political Styles among Western Publics (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1977);
33. and Ronald Inglehart, Cultural Shift in Advanced Industrial Society (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1990).
34. Anderson, 'When in Doubt, Use Proxies', pp. 569-601.
35. Paul Taggart, 'A Touchstone of Dissent: Euroscepticism in Contemporary Western European Party Systems', European Journal of Political Research, 33, 3, April 1998, pp. 363-388.
36. See for example Lauren McLaren, Mark Franklin & Michael Marsh, 'Uncorking the Bottle: Popular Opposition to European Unification in the Wake of Maastricht', Journal of Common Market Studies, 32, 4, December 1994, pp. 455-472.
37. See Inglehart, Cultural Shift.
38. Cichowski, 'Western Dreams, Eastern Realities'.
39. George Blazyca, 'Polish Socioeconomic Development in the 1990s and Scenarios for EU Accession', Europe-Asia Studies, 51, 5, July 1999, pp. 799-820;
40. Blazyca & Kolkiewicz, 'Poland and the EU', pp. 132-137;
41. and Szczerbiak, 'Polish Public Opinion', pp. 110-114.
42. Blazyca & Kolkiewicz, 'Poland and the EU', pp. 139-141;
43. and Szczerbiak, 'Polish Public Opinion', pp. 113-114.
44. Anderson & Tverdova, 'Merging East and West', p. 17.
45. Taggart, 'A Touchstone of Dissent', pp. 363-388.
46. Cichowski, 'Western Dreams, Eastern Realities'.
47. Blazyca & Kolkiewicz, 'Poland and the EU' pp. 132-138.
48. Herbert Kitschelt, Dimitar Dimitrov & Asen Kanev, 'The Structuring of the Vote in Post-Communist Party Systems', European Journal of Political Research, 27, 2, February 1995, pp. 143-160.
49. Inglehart, The. Silent Revolution.
50. Anderson, 'When in Doubt, Use Proxies', pp. 569-601.
51. Gabel & Whitten, 'Economic Conditions, Economic Perceptions, and Public Support for European Integration', pp. 81-96;
52. and Gabel, 'Public Support for European Integration', pp. 333-354.
53. Ivan Szelenyi & Eric Kostello, 'The Market Transition Debate: Toward a Synthesis? ', American Journal of Sociology, 101, 4, January 1996, pp. 1082-1096.
54. Anderson & Tverdova, 'Merging East and West', p. 19.
55. Cichowski, 'Western Dreams, Eastern Realities'.
56. Zagórski, 'Polish Public Opinion about Accession to the European Union and its Determinants', pp. 6-7.
57. See Inglehart, The. Silent Revolution;
58. and Russell J. Dalton, Scott C. Flanagan & Paul A. Beck (eds), Electoral Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies: Realignment or Dealignment ? (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1984).
59. Jack Bielasiak, 'Poland's Transition as Political Repolarization ', Hungarian Studies Quarterly, 14, 2, Fall 2000, pp. 259-273.
60. Andrzej Korbonski, 'Poland Ten Years After: The Church', Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 33, 1, March 2000, pp. 123-146.
61. Zagórski, 'Polish Public Opinion about Accession to the European Union and its Determinants', p. 6.
62. Marody, 'Three Polands', pp. 1-16.
63. Marody, 'Three Polands', Ibid., p. 2.
64. Marody, 'Three Polands', Ibid., pp. 7-9.
65. Marody, 'Three Polands', Ibid., pp. 11-12.
66. Zagórski, 'Polish Public Opinion about Accession to the European Union and its Determinants', pp. 4-6.
67. Anderson & Tverdova, 'Merging East and West', pp. 14-16;
68. and Cichowski, 'Western Dreams, Eastern Realities'.
69. Further evidence on public assessments of integration and its impact on economic, social and cultural developments is provided in more detailed studies by CBOS. See for example 'Stosunek do Integracj i Polski z Unia̧ Europejska̧ po ogloszeniu nowego stanowiska negocjacyjnego ', CBOS Report, January 2002;
70. and 'Opinie o integracji Polski z Unia̧ Europejska̧, CBOS. Serwis Informacyjny, March 2002.