Does more knowledge about the European Union lead to a stronger European citizenship? A comparative research among adolescents in 21 European member states

Strengthening European citizenship is often considered as a ‘cure’ for the democratic deficit and the lack of legitimacy of the European Union (European Commission, 2001; Habermas, 2011). We distinguish two possible ways to strengthen citizenship: a cognitive one (more knowledge about the EU leads to a stronger citizenship) and a utilitarian one (inhabitants of countries that benefit more from their EU-membership have a stronger feeling of European citizenship). We apply a multilevel analysis on the results of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study to test both explanatory models. 70,502 adolescents from 21 European member states were questioned in this study. The analysis shows that knowledge about the EU only has a limited effect on European citizenship. The degree in which a member state contributes to the European budget doesn’t seem to have an effect on the strength of European citizenship. The analysis rather shows that trust in national political institutions is the most important determinant for the development of European citizenship. We conclude with several possible explanations for the relation between political trust and the legitimacy of multilevel government within the European Union, which could lead to future research.

Jaar van publicatie:2012

Toegankelijkheid:Open